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BRONCHITIS, 






KINDRED DISEASES. 



Dr. W. W. HALL, 



AUTHOR OP "COUGHS AND COLDS," "HEALTH AND DISEASE," "SLEEP," " SOL- 
DIER HEALTH," AND EDITOR OF " HALL'S JOURNAL OP HEALTH." 












NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY HURD AND HOUGHTON. 

Camfcr&se: ftttotftta \Bvtte. 

1870. 



\RCl3k 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 

W. W. Hall, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE : 

STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED IT 

H. 0. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 



THROAT-AIL-BRONCHITIS-CONSUMPTION, 



WHAT IS THROAT-AIL J 

It is called by physicians Chronic Laryngitis, pro- 
nounced Lar-in-GE-tis ; by others it is known as Clergy- 
man's Sore Throat, from the fact that so many of that 
class of persons have been troubled with it of late years. 

It is an affection of the voice-making organs, which are 
at the top or beginning of the wind-pipe, answering to 
that moveable protuberance in the throat, in the act of 
swallowing, familiarly called "Adam's Apple," very 
prominent in men, less so in women. 

The one great distinguishing symptom in Throat-Ail, 
present in every case, absent in none, is an alteration of 
the voice, its tone is not so clear as usual ; or to make 
it so, there is an instinctive effort by hawking or hem- 
ming to remove something which is felt to be an obstacle 
to a full and free utterance. 

In the first stages of the disease, nothing perceptible 
is cleared away. When farther advanced, a little mucus, 
or pearly phlegm is brought up, not half a tea-spoonful, 
perhaps;. but as the malady progresses, this pearly 
phlegm becomes thicker, more and more yellow, and in 
greatly increased quantities, from a tea-spoonful to 
twenty or more in the course of four and twenty hours, 
when it uniformly terminates fatally. 

Of this disease, ending .in consumption, the celebrated 
clerical orator, Edward Irving, died. 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



WHAT IS BRONCHITIS { 

It is an affection of the branches of the windpipe 
simple, common cold at first. These branches are hol- 
low, like their parent stem, the windpipe itself; but they 
become filled with a glairy, sticky, tough, pearly-like 
substance, which not only causes the person to cough a 
great deal, night and day, but prevents the air from 
passing into or out of the lungs as fully as it should. 
Hence the prevailing complaint in Bronchitis, (pro- 
nounced bron-KEE-tis) is a feeling of " fullness," an " op- 
pression," a " difficulty of breathing." When the symp- 
toms are urgent, it appears as if a cord were drawn 
tightly across the breast. 

WHAT IS CONSUMPTION ? 

Consumption, commonly called a " Decline," and by 
physicians " Phthisis," is a gradual wasting away of the 
lungs, by which they become disorganized, or rotten, 
and are spit out of the mouth in the shape of yellow 
matter, which, as the disease advances, usually sinks in 
water, and in three cases out of four, is, or has been, 
more or less tinged with blood at various intervals. 

COMPARISONS. 

It is thus seen that Throat- Ail is a disease" of the top 
of the windpipe, Bronchitis a disease of the branches of 
the windpipe, and Consumption a disease of the little 
air cells, which are situated at the extreme ends of the 
branches of the windpipe, as leaves are at the extremity 
of the branches of a tree. These cells or bladders are 
of all sizes, from that of a pea, downwards. 



SYMPTOMS OF THROAT-AIL. 



CAUSES. 



Throat-Ail is generally the result of accidental and 
temporary causes, such as indigestion, over-exertion of 
the voice, suppressions, sitting or standing on damp 
places. 

Bronchitis is brought on by the application of, or 
taking cold, in some way or other. 

Consumption is most generally an inherited disease, 
and it is sufficient for one of the parents only to have 
had a weakly or diseased constitution ; but in the pre- 
sent day it is constantly becoming more common, in 
consequence of its being generated in persons whose 
parents, grand-parents, and in many instances, they 
themselves, had a strong robust constitution, by irregu- 
lar habits of life, indulgence of the passions and appe- 
tites, by over-efforts of body or mind, by corroding care, 
by deep grief, by protracted sufferings, by late hours, 
damp clothing, damp sheets, damp rooms, and very often 
by unwise efforts to " harden the constitution" by need- 
less exposures to heat and cold, and over-exertion — for- 
getting that a man's constitution is like a good garment, 
which lasts the longer for being the better taken care of, 
and is no more improved by hard treatment; than a new 
hat is made better by being banged about. 

SYMPTOMS. 

Throat-Ail is a disease of the voice-making organs at 
the top of the windpipe; its distinguishing symptom, an 
impairment of the voice. 

Bronchitis is an ailment of the branches of the wind- 
pipe ; its prominent indication being a difficulty of 
breathing, and harassing cough at any and all times. 

Consumption is an affection of the lungs themselves, 



8 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

at the ends of the branches of the windpipe ; its univer- 
sal symptom, a wasting of flesh and strength and breath. 

TREATMENT. 

Throat-Ail requires mainly external applications, 
washes, gargles, fomentations, and the like. 

Bronchitis is cured by internal remedies. 

Consumption itself, the great giant of Death, calls for 
none of these things necessarily, unless complicated with 
other ailments. 

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THROAT-AIL ? 

The most universal symptom is an impairment of the 
voice, which is more or less hoarse or weak. If there is 
no actual want of clearness of the sounds, there is an 
instinctive clearing of the throat, by swallowing, hawk- 
ing, or hemming ; or a summoning up of strength to 
enunciate words. When this is continued for some 
time, there is a sensation of tiredness about the throat, a 
dull heavy aching, or general feeling of discomfort or 
uneasiness, coming on in the afternoon or evening. In 
the early part of the day, there is nothing of the kind 
perceptible, as the voice muscles have had time for rest 
and the recovery of their powers during the night. In 
the beginning of the disease, no inconvenience of this 
kind is felt, except some unusual effort has been made, 
such as speaking or singing in public ; but as it pro- 
gresses, these symptoms manifest themselves every eve- 
ning ; then earlier and earlier in the day, until the voice 
is clear only for a. short time soon in the morning ; next, 
there is a constant hoarseness or huskiness from week to 
month, when the case is most generally incurable, and 
the patient dies of the common symptoms of Consump- 
tive disease. 



SYMPTOMS OF BRONCHITIS. 9 

In some cases,, the patient expresses himself as having 
a sensation as if a piece of wool or blanket were in the 
throat, or an aching or sore feeling, running up the sides 
of the neck towards the ears. Some have a burning 01 
raw sensation at the little hollow at the bottom of the 
neck; others, about Adam's Apple; while a third class 
speak of such a feeling or a prickling at some spot along 
the sides of the neck. Among others, the first symptoms 
are a dryness in the throat after speaking or singing, or 
while in a crowded room, or when waking up in the 
morning, or after unusual exertion. Some feel as if 
there were an unusual thickness or a lumpy sensation 
in the throat, at the upper part, removed at once by 
swallowing it away ; but soon it comes back again, 
giving precisely the feelings which some persons have 
after swallowing a pill. Sometimes, this frequent swal- 
lowing is most troublesome after meals. 

Throat- Ail is not like many other diseases, often get- 
ting well of itself by being let alone. I do not believe 
that one case in ten ever does so, but on the contrary, 
gradually grows worse, until the voice is permanently 
husky or subdued ; and soon the swallowing of solids or 
fluids becomes difficult, food or drink returns through 
the nose, causing a feeling of strangulation or great pain. 
When Throat-Ail symptoms have been allowed to pro- 
gress to this stage, death is almost inevitable in a very 
few weeks. Now and then a case may be saved, but 
restoration here is in the nature of a miracle. 

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF BRONCHITIS'? 

Bronchitis is a bad cold, and the experience of every 
one teaches what its symptoms are. The medical name 
for a cold is Acute Bronchitis; called acute, because it 
comes on at once, and lasts but a short time — a week or 



10 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

two generally. The ailment that is commonly denomi- 
nated Bronchitis, is what physicians term Chronic Bron- 
chitis ; called chronic, because it is a long time in coming 
on, and lasts for months and years instead of days and 
weeks. It is not like Throat- Ail, or Consumption, which 
have a great many symptoms, almost any one of which 
may be absent, and still the case be one of Throat-Ail, 
or Consumption; but Bronchitis has three symptoms, 
every one of which are present every day, and together, 
and all the time, in all ages, sexes, constitutions, and 
temperaments. These three universal and essential 
symptoms are — 

1st. A feeling of fullness, or binding, or cord-like sen- 
sation about the breast. 

2d. A most harassing cough, liable to come on at any 
hour of the day or night. 

3d. A large expectoration. 

This expectoration is of a tough, stringy, tenacious, 
sticky, pearly or greyish-like substance, from a table- 
spoon to a pint or more a day. As the disease pro- 
gresses, this becomes darkish, greenish, or yellowish in 
appearance ; sometimes all three colors may be seen 
together, until at last it is uniformly yellow, and comes 
up without much effort, in mouthfuls, that fall heavily, 
without saliva or mucus. When this is the case, death 
comes in a very few weeks or — days. 

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CONSUMPTION'? 

A gradual wasting of breath, flesh, and strength are 
the three symptoms, progressing steadily through days 
and weeks and months, which are never absent in any 
case of true, active, confirmed Consumptive disease that 
I have ever seen. A man may have a daily cough for 
fifty years, and not have Consumption. A woman may 



SYMPTOMS OF CONSUMPTION. 11 

spit blood for a quarter of a century, and not have Con- 
sumption. A young lady may breathe forty times a 
minute, and have a pulse of a hundred and forty beats a 
minute, day after day, for weeks and months together, 
and not have Consumption ; and men and women and 
young ladies may have pains in the breast, and sides, 
and shoulders, and flushes in the cheeks, and night 
sweats, and swollen ankles, and yet have not an atom 
of Consumptive decay in the lungs. But where there is 
a slow, steady, painless decline of flesh and strength and 
breath, extending through weeks and months of time, 
Consumption exists in all persons, ages, and climes, 
although at the same time sleep, bowels, appetite, spirits, 
may be represented as good. Such, at least, a re the re- 
sults of my own observation. 

The great, general, common symptoms of Consump- 
tion of the Lungs are night and morning cough, pains 
about the breast, easily tired in walking, except on level 
ground, shortness of breath on slight exercise, and 
general weakness. These are the symptoms of which 
Consumptive persons complain, and as they approach, 
the gfave, these symptoms gradually increase. 

HOW DO PERSONS GET THROAT-AIL 1 

C. M. " noticed that public speaking was followed by 
some soreness in the throat, which usually wore off in 
a day or two ; in a year or two it was painful to make a 
speech, and he was compelled to desist altogether from 
making public addresses. In time, every attempt to 
speak a word required an effort followed by weari- 
ness ; there is a constant disposition to swallow or 
clear the throat, increased by taking cold — appetite 
good — sleep sound — general health uninjured. If there 
is several days rest, begins to feel well, but if any at- 



12 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tempt is made to speak for fifteen minutes, the soreness 
in the throat returns." 

A woman, while sitting on a stone bench in Feb- 
ruary, was attacked with sudden hoarseness, this conti- 
nued, grew worse until the voice was lost altogether ; a 
little pain in the throat, shortness of breath on the least 
exercise ; was three months getting well. 

Mrs. P. took cold by being exposed in the Park in 
Versailles, in August, followed by a hoarseness which 
nothing could control. In two years her voice was alto- 
gether extinct. In two months more there was oppres- 
sion and shortness of breath if she walked fast ; in two 
weeks more this oppression became constant during the 
night, often threatening suffocation; and death took 
place in two years and a half from the first hoarseness. 

A tall man, strong constitution, good figure, aged 
thirty-three, had hoarseness every winter for five years, 
then there was cough, irregular chills, clear expectora- 
tion, very sensitive to cold, copious night-sweats, daily 
fever, voice then changed some, throat became painful, 
then drinks began to return by the nose, appetite bad, 
digestion imperfect, casting up after meals, gradual 
falling away, heat in the throat, loss of voice, thick 
greenish expectoration, diarrhoea, and death. 

A man thirty years old, delicate, subject to frequent 
colds for eighteen months past ; with pains in the throat 
and hoarseness ; voice hoarse and broken ; expectora- 
tion thick and tough ; often put his hands to his throat- 
as if there were some obstruction there ; had fits of 
coughing which were stifling, this grew painfully severe, 
and finally died from suffocation. 

A gentleman, aged forty-two, was attacked in the 
street one morning in August, with a fit of suffocation ; 



HOW PERSONS GET THROAT-AIL. 13 

he could not proceed ; a dry, rough, hoarse cough came 
on, with shortness of breath. In two weeks had another 
attack and died. 

A vigorous Dutch courier, was subject to cold every 
winter for eight years, but last winter it was worse, with 
sore throat, and obstinate hoarseness ; emaciated very 
rapidly, with complete loss of voice ; acute pain in the 
throat when he swallows either liquid or solid food ; a 
tender spot on the side of Adam's apple when pressed 
with the finger ; expectoration streaked with yellow at 
times, at others, it is viscid, small, opaque, and swim- 
ming in a sort of mucilage ; night sweats on face and 
chest; general debility and death. 

A gentleman, aged fifty, had an eruption over the 
body ; it disappeared, but a pain in the throat came on 
immediately, with a feeling of oppression ; expectora- 
tion smelt badly. In a year or two there was a cough, 
hoarse voice, with a tough, sticky expectoration ; acute 
pain in the throat, especially on swallowing — and even 
of liquids; falling away; loss of voice and death. 

A large, spare man, of fifty-two, a porter, noticed his 
voice changing for thirteen months, becoming hoarser 
for the last six weeks, until the voice was almost lost ; 
difficult breathing ; painful swallowing ; wakes in starts 
from sleep, and died of suffocation. 

B. W. felt uneasy about the throat frequently, inclin- 
ing him to swallow or to clear the throat, as something 
appeared to be sticking there ; now and then there was a 
little hoarseness, especially towards evening, or after 
speaking or reading ; occasional dryness of the throat; 
some burning feeling at the side of the neck ; unnatural 
sensation at top of breast bone ; sometimes a feeling of 
tightness there; in the course of the year he found it re- 



14 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

quired some little effort, when after silence, he began to 
talk, a kind of instinctive summoning of strength about 
the breast, in order to enable him to speak clearly and 
distinctly ; after awhile, whenever spoken to, he would 
be compelled to give a hem or two before attempting to 
reply, as if conscious that something must be cleared 
away first. 

A clergyman says : " I had spoken a great deal for 
six weeks, which left some hoarseness, otherwise quite 
well. Soon the hoarseness was such as to reduce me to 
a whisper if I conversed only a few minutes ; the throat 
inside looked very red, with large blotches or hillocks 
on the back part of it, and a slimy stuff was always col- 
lecting there, and when I would hawk it away, there 
would sometimes be streaks of blood in it ; occasionally 
a little pain there. I quit preaching, and kept the house 
for several months, and nothing does me any good." 

A physician was called to ride on a January night, 
and contracted a hoarseness, which continued with very 
little cough and no expectoration ; his general health 
continued excellent; no one could have supposed any- 
thing the matter with him. His voice became more and 
more hoarse, until it was entirely lost, and in a few 
months afterwards he died. 

A lady was attacked with fits of dry cough, and sub- 
sequently lost her voice ; there was a sense of scraping 
in the throat ; sometimes obstinate sneezing ; the cough 
was a little soothed by drinking water ; the breathing 
gradually became difficult, swallowing painful, and she 
died. 

A gentleman observed for a year past, that his voice 
was occasionally a little cracked, and soon became per- 
manently hoarse, and at last it was entirely lost. There 



HOW PERSONS GET THROAT- AIL. 15 

was no pain, no swelling, no spitting of blood; he 
seemed to enjoy the fullest health ; yet the symptoms 
gradually grew worse until he died. 

P. T. " slept on an ice-box one summer's day two 
years ago, and waked up with a sore throat, it has never 
since ceased to hurt me, and has been steadily getting 
worse." 

835. " I worked in a damp cellar in winter, two years 
ago, in striking off a newspaper ; a short, dry cough ap- 
peared, which has steadily got worse ; the voice became 
hoarse and husky, until I cannot speak above a whisper 
without considerable effort. I now cough night and 
morning, an hour at a time often, and am weak and 
emaciated, chills, fevers, and night-sweats." He soon 
died. 

A man had suffered a great deal from sick headache; 
he was advised to have cold water poured on the top of 
his head ; he did so ; he had headache no more. The 
throat became affected ; had frequent swallowing, clear- 
ing of throat, falling of palate, voice soon failed in sing- 
ing, large red splotches on the back part of the throat, 
and white lumps at either side; but the falling of the 
palate and interminable swallowing were the great 
symptoms, making and keeping him nervous, irritable, 
debilitated, and wretched. He was advised to take off 
the uvula, but would not do it. Had the nitrate of 
silver applied constantly for three months. Tried 
homoeopathy. After suffering thus two years, he came 
to me, and on a subsequent visit, said, " It is wonderful, 
that for two years I have been troubled with this throat, 
and nothing would relieve it, and now it is disappearing 
in a few days." That was four months ago. I saw 
him in the street yesterday. He said his throat gave 



16 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

him no more trouble ; that he had no more chilliness, 
and had never taken a cold since he came under my 
care, although formerly " it was the easiest thing in the 
world to take cold." 

* A merchant (1002) slept in a steamboat state-room in 
December, with a glass broken out; woke up next 
morning with a hoarseness and sore throat ; for several 
months did nothing, then applied to a physician. 
Counter-irritants were employed without any perma- 
nent effect. At the end of four years, he came to me 
with " a sort of uneasy feeling about the throat, more 
at times than others; not painful; sometimes a little 
hoarseness, with frequent inclination to swallow, or clear 
the throat. At the little hollow at the bottom of the neck, 
just above the top of the breast-bone, there was a feel- 
ing of pressure, stricture, or enlargement — no pain, but 
an unpleasant sensation, sometimes worse than at others. 
It is absent for days at a time, and then lasts for several 
hours a day." 

A clergyman (1012) has a hoarse, cracked, weak 
voice, easily tired in speaking ; a raw sensation in the 
throat ; and in swallowing has " a fish-bony feeling P 
He had become over-heated in a public address, and 
immediately after its close started to ride across a prairie 
in a damp, cold wind in February. Had to abandon 
preaching altogether, and become a school teacher." 
This gentleman wrote to me for advice, and having fol- 
lowed it closely for eighteen days, reported himself as 
almost entirely well. 

I greatly desire it to be remembered here, that in 
this, as in other cases of Throat- Ail, however perfectly a 
person may be cured, the disease will return as often as 
exposure to the causes of it in the first place is per- 



HOW PERSONS GET THROAT-AIL. 17 

mitted to occur. . No cure, however perfect, will allow 
a man to commit with impunity such a thoughtless and 
inexcusable act as above named, that of riding across a 
prairie in February, in a damp, cold wind, within a few 
minutes after having delivered an excited address in a 
warm room. None of us are made out of India rubber 
or iron, but of flesh and blood with a reasonable soul, 
subject to wise and benevolent conditions and restric- 
tions ; and it is not to the discredit of physic or physi- 
cians, that being once cured, the disease should return as 
often as the indiscretion that originated it in the first in- 
stance is re-committed. 

Three weeks ago, one of our merchants came to me 
with a troublesome tickling in the throat. At first it 
was only a tickling; but for some weeks the tickling 
compels a frequent clearing of the throat ; and without 
a cough, each clearing or hemming brings up half a tea- 
spoonful of yellow matter, with some saliva. On look- 
ing into his throat, the whole back part of it was red, 
with still redder splotches here and there — epiglottis 
almost scarlet. On inquiry, I found he had for years 
been a chewer of tobacco ; then began to smoke ; would 
day after day smoke after each meal, but especially 
after tea would consume half a dozen cigars. In time, 
the other naturally consequent steps would have been 
taken — to consumption and the grave. Among other 
things, I advised him to abandon tobacco absolutely and 
at once. In two weeks he came again. Throat de- 
cidedly better ; in every respect better, except that he, 
in his own opinion, "had taken a little cold," and had a 
constant slight cough — not by any means a trifling symp- 
tom. Let the reader learn a valuable lesson from this 
case. This gentleman had the causes of cough before ; 



18 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

he found that smoking modified the tickling, and taking 
this as an indication of cure, he smoked more vigorously, 
and thus suppressed the cough, while the cause of it was 
still burrowing in the system and widening its ravages. 
It will require months of steady effort to arrest the pro- 
gress of the disease, and he may consider himself for- 
tunate — more so than in any mercantile speculation he 
ever made — if he gets well at all. If he does get well, 
and returns to the use of tobacco, the disease will cer- 
tainly return, for the following reason. — Throat-Ail is 
inflammation ; that is, too much heat in the parts. 
Tobacco smoke being warm, or even hot, is drawn di- 
rectly back against the parts already too much heated, 
and very naturally increasing the heat, aggravates the 
disease. Again, any kind of smoke — that of common 
wood — is irritating, much more that of such a powerful 
poison as tobacco — soothing, indeed, in its first transient 
effects, like many other poisons, but leaving behind it 
consequences more remote, but more destructive and 
enduring. 

A gentleman, just married, clerk in a Southern house, 
applied to me to be cured of a sore throat. He was per- 
manently hoarse : swallowing food was often unendur- 
ably painful, besides causing violent paroxysms of cough. 
He said he knew no cavise for his complaint, except that 
he had smoked very freely. On inquiry, I found that 
for the last two years he had used, on an average, about 
" a dozen cigars every day ; perhaps more." He died 
in six weeks. 

In several instances, persons have applied to me who 
had been advised to take brandy freely for a throat 
affection. Such advice is warranted by no one princi- 
ple in medicine, reason, or common sense. Were I to 



HOW PERSONS GET THROAT-AIL. 19 

give it, I should feel myself justly liable to the charge 
of being an ignorant man or a drunkard. The throat is 
inflamed ; inflammation is excitement ; brandy and to- 
bacco both excite, inflame the whole body ; that is why 
they are used at all. The throat partakes of its portion 
of the excitement, when the throat, body, and the man, 
all the more speedily go to ruin together. I have in my 
mind, while writing these lines, the melancholy history 
of two young men — one from Kentucky, the other from 
Missouri — who were advised " to drink brandy freely, 
three times a day, for throat complaint." One of these 
became a drunkard, and lost his property, and within 
another year he will leave an interesting family in 
penury, disgrace, and want. The other was one of the 
most high-minded, honorable young men I have lately 
known. He was the only son of a widow, and she was 
rich. He came to see me three or four times, and then 
stated that he had concluded to try the effects of a little 
brandy at each meal. A few weeks afterwards he in- 
formed me, that as he was constantly improving, he 
thought that the brandy would certainly effect a cure. 
Within seven months after his application to me, he 
had become a regular toper ; that is, he had increased 
the original quantity allowed, of a tablespoon at each 
meal, to such an amount, that he was all the time under 
the influence of liquor. His business declined; he spent 
all his money ; secretly left for California, many thou- 
sand dollars in debt, and soon after died. The per- 
son who advised him is also now a confirmed drunkard ; 
but in his wreck and ruin, still a great man. 

A gentleman from a distant State wrote to me some 
months ago for advice as to a throat affection. He is a 
lawyer of note already, and of still higher promise, not 



20 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

yet having reached the prime of life. By earnest efforts 
as a temperance advocate, in addition to being a popular 
pleader at the bar, his voice became impaired, with 
cough, spitting of blood, matter expectoration, diarrhoea, 
debility, and general wasting. He was induced to drink 
brandy with iron, but soon left off the iron and took the 
brandy pure. The habit grew upon him ; he sometimes 
stimulated to excess, according to his own acknowledg- 
ment ; his friends thought there was no interval, and 
gave him up as a lost man to themselves, his family, 
and his country ; but in time, the virulence of the disease 
rose above the stimulus of the brandy, and in occasional 
desperation he resorted to opium. He subsequently 
visited the water cure, gained in flesh and strength, and 
was hopeful of a speedy restoration ; but he took " an 
occasional cigar" — the dryness in the throat, hoarseness, 
pain on pressure, and soreness still remained ! He left 
the water cure, and in a few months wrote to me, having, 
in addition to the above throat symptoms, a recent 
hsemorrhage, constipation, pains in the breast, nervous- 
ness, debility, variable appetite, and daily cough. 
Within two months, he has become an almost entirely 
new man, requiring no further advice. 

Further illustration of the manner in which persons 
get Throat-Ail, may be more conveniently given in the 
letters of some who have applied to me, with the addi- 
tional advantage of having the symptoms described in 
language not professional, consequently more generally 
understood. 

A PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN. 

(1059.) "I have had for three years past a trouble- 
some affection of the thorax, which manifests itself by 



A CLERGYMAN A LAWYER. 21 

frequent and prolonged hemming or clearing the throat, 
and swallowing : both more frequent in damp weather, or 
after slight cold. General health very feeble, sleepless- 
ness, waste of flesh, low spirits. Visited a water cure, 
remained two months, but my hemming and swallowing 
were not a whit improved. Touching with the nitrate 
of silver slightly makes the larynx sore. I have been 
always able to preach. It has never affected my voice 
until very recently. Two weeks ago I preached two 
long sermons, in a loud and excited voice, in one day. 
During the last discourse my voice became hoarse, and 
my hemming has become very bad ; and there has been 
a slight break in my voice ever since. Hem, hem, hem, 
is the order of the day ; clearing the throat is incessant, 
swallowing often, and a slight soreness of the larynx, 
particularly after a slight cold, or after several days' 
use of nitrate of silver, with a scarce perceptible break 
in the voice. These are my principal symptoms." 

A LAWYER. 

(1016.) "Aged thirty-seven. Have been liable, for 
several years past, in the fall, winter, and spring, to 
severe attacks of fever, accompanied with great debility, 
loss of flesh, appearing to myself and friends to be in 
the last stages of Consumption ; in fact, the dread of it 
has been an incubus on me, paralyzing mv energies and 
weighing down my spirits. In the summers, too, I have 
been subject to attacks of bilious fever and bilious colic. 
A year ago, I attended court soon after one of these at- 
tacks, and exerted myself a great deal. My throat be- 
came very sore, and I had haemorrhage — two teaspoons 
of blood and matter. My health continued feeble. I 
went last summer to a water cure, and regained my 



22 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

flesh and strength, but the weakness in my throat and 
occasional hoarseness continued all the time. After- 
wards, by cold and exposure, I became worse, conti- 
nued to have chills and fever and night sweats, accom- 
panied by violent cough and soreness of the throat. I 
got worse ; was reduced to a perfect skeleton, and had 
another haemorrhage. Mucus would collect in the top 
of the throat, and was expectorated freely. I am still 
liable to colds. The seat of the disease seems to be at 
the little hollow in front at the bottom of the neck, just 
above the top of the breast-bone. At my last bleeding, 
the pain seemed to be in the region of Adam's-Apple. 
The principal present symptoms are soreness in throat, 
dryness, pain on pressing it, and hoarseness ; pulse from 
eighty to ninety in a minute ; irregular appetite. These 
symptoms, together with my fear of Consumption, 
serve to keep me unhappy. I find myself constantly 
liable to attacks' of cold, sneezing, running at the nose 
even in the summer time. My mother and sister have 
died of Consumption, as also two of my mother's sis- 
ters. Feet always cold ; daily cough." 

OPINION OF THE CASE. 

There is no Consumptive disease: it is impossible. 
No personal examination is needed to tell that. The 
foundation of all your ailments is a torpid liver and a 
weak stomach. If you are not cured, it will be your 
own fault. 

The treatment of this case was conducted by corres- 
pondence, as he lived six hundred miles away, and 
therefore I had not the opportunity of a personal exami- 
nation. Within a month he writes : — " I am gradually 
improving ; feet warm ; all pain has disappeared from 



A CLERGYMAN. 23 

the breast; appetite strong, regular, and good; pulse 
seventy-two ; breathing eighteen ; all cough has dis- 
appeared." At the end of two and a half months, no 
further advice was needed, as he wrote — "I have not 
written to you for a month, oeing absent on the circuit. 
I have not enjoyed better health for years than I have 
for the month. Weight increasing ; no uneasiness or 
pain about my breast ; pulse seventy-five ; less in the 
morning. The only trouble I have is costiveness, from 
being so confined in court, and being away from home 
deprived of my regular diet. We were two weeks 
holding court, last of November, in a miserable room, 
the court-house having been recently burned; kept 
over-heated all the time. I made four or five speeches, 
and suffered no inconvenience whatever. I have no 
cough. I now weigh about as much as I ever did, and 
my average health was never better, I have no ailment 
whatever except slight constipation." 

A CLERGYMAN 

(1024) called over two months ago, having had at first 
an ailment at the top of the throat, apparently above or 
near the palate. It soon descended to the region of 
Adam's-apple, and within a month it seemed to have 
located itself lower down the neck, giving a feeling as 
if there were an ulcer there, with a sense of fullness 
about the throat, hoarse after public speaking, lasting a 
day or two, with attacks every few weeks of distressing 
sick headache. As the disease seemed to be rapidly 
descending towards the lungs, a rigid, energetic treat- 
ment was proposed, and at the end of ten weeks he 
writes — " I take pleasure in introducing my friend ■ , 
to you. He has suffered many things, from many 



"24 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

advisers, with small benefit. I have desired him to 
consult with you, hoping that he may have the same 
occasion to be grateful for the providence which leads 
him to you, which I feel that I myself have for that 
which guided me to your counsels. I suffer but little, 
very little from my throat, and confidently anticipate 
entire relief at no distant day, for all which I feel 
myself under great obligation both to your skill and to 
your kindness," &c. 

SICK HEADACHE 

is a distressing malady, as those who are subject to it 
know full well, by sad experience. In this case, this 
troublesome affection had to be permanently removed 
before the throat ailment could be properly treated; 
when that was done, the throat itself was comparatively 
of easy management. 

A MERCHANT 

(947) wrote to me from the South, complaining chiefly of 

Bad cough, sometimes giving a croupy sound ; 

Throat has a raw, choking, dry, rasping feeling ; 

Soon as he goes to. sleep,*there is a noise or motion, as 
if he were going to cough ; 

Startled in sleep, by mouth filling with phlegm ; 

Expectoration tough, white, and sticky ; darkish parti- 
cles sometimes ; 

Flashes or flushes pass over him sometimes ; 

Sick stomach sometimes, acid often, wind on stomach 
oppresses him greatly ; 

A lumpy feeling in the throat ; 

On entering his house, sometimes falls asleep in his 
chair, almost instantly ; 



25 

In walking home, at sundown, naif a mile from his 

store, is completely exhausted ; 
Slightest thing brings on a cough ; never eats without 

coughing ; 
If he swallows honey, it stings the throat ; 
Got a cold a month ago, which left the palate and throat 

very much inflamed ; 
Throat and tongue both sore ; 
A hooping, suffocative cough; can hear the phlegm 

rattle just before the cough begins ; 
A dry, rough feeling from the little hollow at the bottom 

of the neck up to the top of the throat. 
One night after going to bed, began to cough, choke, 

suffocate ; could not get breath, jumped out of bed, 

ran across the room, struggled, and at length got 

breath, but was perfectly exhausted ; could not speak 

for half an hour, without great difficulty. 

In addition to his own description of the case, his 
wife writes — " Ten o'clock at Night. — I am no physi- 
cian, nor physician's wife, but am his wife and nurse, 
and an anxious observer of his symptoms, and can see 
his throat inflamed behind the uvula. He says there is 
a lump somewhere, but he cannot tell where. Some- 
times he thinks it is in the little hollow at the bottom 
of the neck, sometimes just above, and sometimes in 
or about the swallow. A recent cold has aggravated 
his symptoms. His cough to-day has been very fre- 
quent and loose. He has emaciated rapidly within a 
month, and is now a good deal despondent. As for 
myself, 1 feel as one who sees some fair prospect sud- 
denly fading away. I had fondly hoped — oh ! how 
ardently ! — that he might be restored. If a knowledge 
of the fact would give any additional interest to the 

2 



26 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



case, I will only say, he is one of the loveliest charac- 
ters on earth. None in this community has a larger 
share of the respect and confidence of their acquaint- 
ance." 

The opinion sent, for I have not seen the case, was 
as follows : — " The whole breathing apparatus, from 
the top of the windpipe to the extremity of its branches, 
is diseased ; the lungs themselves are not at all affected 
by decay. Your whole constitution is diseased ; and 
yet there is good ground for hope of life and reasonable 
health." 

In three months this patient writes — " I am glad to 
inform you that I think I am still improving in health 
and strength. My bowels are sometimes disordered by 
eating melons and fruits ; but I felt so much better that 
I thought I might indulge. Pulse sixty -five to seventy ; 
an almost ravenous appetite." A month later, he writes 
— " My health and strength are still improving ; cough 
not very troublesome ; increasing in flesh," &c. I believe 
this gentleman now enjoys good health. 

A LADY, 

(948) teacher of vocal music, writes — " There is a pecu- 
liar sensation in my throat for the last two months. 
Whenever I attempt to swallow, it feels as if some- 
thing were in the way ; a swelling under the jaws, a 
soreness on the sides of the throat, extending to the ears, 
and occasioning throbbing painfully. I have a dull 
aching at the top of my collar-bone, and an unpleasant 
sensation of weakness and heaviness in my chest ; a bad 
taste in my mouth frequently. Have been regular, but 
have been afflicted for a few years past with sickness at 
the stomach and vomiting, attended occasionally with 



• TEACHER OF VOCAL MUSIC. 27 

great pain for a few hours. During these attacks, the 
complexion changes to a livid hue. I have been very 
much troubled with dyspepsia. On recovering from the 
attacks above mentioned, 1 have experienced a feeling of 
weakness almost insupportable. Am very costive ; and 
my spirits are greatly depressed. Within a day or two 
I have taken a violent cold, which has affected me with 
sneezing, running from the eyes and nose, together with 
a slight hoarseness. I was advised to apply caustic to 
the throat, and Croton oil to my neck, chest, and throat. 
I have since discontinued these, not having received any 
permanent benefit from them. On two occasions, from 
over-exertion at concerts and examinations, I was unable 
to speak a loud word, from hoarseness, for several days. 
I am extremely anxious to learn your opinion. In 
about two months my public concerts take place, and it 
is absolutely necessary that something should be done 
for me." 

OPINION. 

Yours is general constitutional disease. There is no 
special cause of alarm. A weakened stomach, a torpid 
liver, a want of sufficient air and exercise, are the foun- 
dations of all your ailments, and by the proper regula- 
tion of these, you may expect to have good health and a 
stronger voice. You must have energy and patient per 
severance in carrying out the prescriptions sent to you. 

In one month this lady writes, and the letter is given 
to encourage others who may come under my care, to 
engage with determination and energy in carrying out 
the directions which may be given them. The reader 
may also see what great good a little medicine may do 
when combined with the judicious employment cf rational 



28 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

means, which do not involve the taking of medicine o* 
the use of painful and scarifying agencies and patent 
contrivances : — 

" I began your prescriptions at once. Having followed 
them for some time, I was obliged to intermit them for 
a few days, in consequence of having to conduct a con- 
cert, besides having to travel by stage and railroad 
seventy or eighty miles. During this time I was up 
every night until twelve o'clock, and was much exposed 
to the night air. On returning home, I re-commenced 
your directions, have made it a point to attend to them 
strictly, and have very seldom failed of doing so. In 
consequence of two omissions in diet, I suffered from 
headache, which disappeared when I observed your direc- 
tions. My appetite is good ; my food agrees with me. 
I sometimes feel dull and sleepy after dinner. I drop to 
sleep immediately. Seldom wake in the night. Sleep 
about seven hours, and generally feel bright and strong 
in the morning, when I take a brisk walk of two miles 
and a half ; the same after six, p.m. My walks at first 
fatigued me considerably ; generally, however, I have 
felt better and better from their commencement to their 
end, and have perspired very freely. The exercise I 
take seems rather to increase than diminish my strength. 
I have not been prevented from taking exercise from 
any dampness in the atmosphere. I have sometimes 
been exposed to the night air in going to church and 
other places, but without any perceptible injury. The 
means you advised produce a general glow, and invaria- 
bly remove headache, which I sometimes have to a slight 
degree after dinner. I think my throat is better. There 
is no unpleasant feeling about it at present, except the 



DANGEROUS EXPOSURES. 29 

difficulty in swallowing, and even that is better. Pulse 
sixty-seven." 

I had for some time ceased to regard this energetic 
young lady as a patient, when she announced a new ail- 
ment, a difficulty at periodic times : — " I walked two 
miles every day, and every thing was going on well, 
until one evening after walking very fast, I sat awhile 
with a friend, in a room without fire, in November. 
The weather was chilly and damp ; was unwell, sup- 
pressed : had a chill and incessant cough for several 
hours, ending in something like inflammation of the 
lungs." 

These things were remedied, she now enjoys good 
health and is engaged in the active discharge of her 
duties. This last incident is introduced here to warn 
every reader, especially women, against all such ex 
posures at all times, most especially during particular 
seasons. Such exposures, as sitting in rooms without 
fire, in the fall and spring, after active walking, have 
thrown stout strong men into a fatal consumption ; and 
it is not at all to be wondered at that delicate women 
should lay the foundation of incurable disease in the 
same manner. I will feel well repaid for writing these 
lines, if but here and there a reader may be found to 
guard against such exposures. Our parlors and draw- 
ing-rooms are kept closed to the air and light for a great 
portion of the twenty-four hours, and unless the weather 
is quite cool there is no fire in them. Thus they neces- 
sarily acquire a cold, clammy dampness, very percept- 
ible on first entering. A fire is not thought necessary, 
as visitors usually remain but a few minutes ; but when 
the blood is warmed by walking in the pure air and the 
clear sunshine, it is chilled in a very short space of time, 



30 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

if the person is at rest, in the cold and gloom of a mo- 
dern parlor, especially as a contemplated call of a 
minute is often unconsciously extended to half an hour, 
under the excitement of friendly greetings and neigh- 
borly gossip. There can be no doubt that thousands 
every year catch their death of cold, to use a homely but 
expressive phrase, in the manner above named. Young 
women, especially, cannot act thus with impunity. Men 
perish by multitudes every year by exposures of a 
similar character; walking or working until they be- 
come warm, then sitting in a hall or entry or a cold 
counting-room ; or standing still at the wharf or at a 
street corner ; or running to reach a ferry-boat until they 
begin to perspire, and then sitting still in the wind while 
the boat is crossing. It is by inattention to what may 
be considered such trifling little things that thousands of 
valuable lives are sacrificed every year. 

A YOUNG GENTLEMAN, 

(950) from Washington City, complained of 

Uneasiness at throat, caused by repeated colds ; late 
hours, hot rooms ; 

Cough most of mornings — dry, tickling, hollow ; 

Expectoration a little yellow ; 

Bloody, streaked expectoration, six months ago ; 

Breathing oppressed, if sit or stoop long ; 

Take cold easy, in every way ; 

Throat has various feelings, tickling, heavy aching, 
raw, dry, from palate to depression ; 

Swallowing a little difficult at times ; 

Voice not much affected; 

Headache, costive bowels, piles occasionally ; 

Pain about shoulder-blades and at their points ; 



OPINIONS OF CASES. 31 

Soreness under both ribs sometimes ; 

Pains in the breast — more of a soreness from the top 
of the breast-bone to the pit of the stomach ; 

Have been ailing fifteen months ; 

Father, mother, sister, uncle, aunt died of Consump- 
tion. 

OPINION. 

You cannot have Consumption now : you are de- 
cidedly threatened with it. With proper attention, 
persevering and prompt, you may ward it off effectually, 
and live to the ordinary term of human life to those of 
your occupation. It is my opinion, that without this 
care, you will fall into settled disease within a year. 

In two months, this gentleman called to see me for 
the first time. His lungs were working freely and fully, 
over the natural standard ; pulse seventy-two ; appetite 
good ; bowels regular. I did not think he required any 
particular medical advice ; and it is my present belief, 
that with proper attention to diet, exercise, and regular 
habits of life, his health will become permanently good. 

(952.) Took a severe cold last winter, which left a 
severe cough. Every morning the breast feels sore, 
until stirs about some. Pain in the left side, running 
through to the left shoulder blade, and between the 
shoulders ; pain in the breast-bone, and in the centre of 
the left breast. Chief complaint is pain in the chest, 
left side, and a constant raising of frothy, thick, tough, 
and yellow matter, with frequent hawking, hemming, 
and clearing of the throat. Age 22. 

OPINION. 

Your ailments are all removable by diligent atten- 
tion to the directions I may give you. I very much 



32 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

hope you will spare no 'pains in carrying them out most 
thoroughly. You certainly have not Consumptive dis- 
ease. 

He called upon me some months afterwards, when I 
saw him for the first time. He had nothing to com- 
plain of; pulse sixty ; his lungs working freely and fully, 
being considerably above the natural standard ; and as 
far as I know, he continues well to this day. 

(973.) " Am officer in a bank. Was at a fire during 
Christmas, seven months ago. Used my voice a great 
deal ; began to be hoarse ; very much so by morning. 
This lasted a week, and went off; but in three weeks 
there appeared to be something about the palate which 
wanted to come away. Throat seemed inflamed, and 
ever since then have had a clogging feeling in the 
throat, that does not affect my voice, unless I read 
aloud, when I soon become hoarse. Two days ago, spit 
up a spoonful of dark blood ; never before or since. I 
have a binding sensation across the top. of the breast, 
and three months since had a pain up and down the 
breast-bone. Have used iodide of potash ; have had 
the throat pencilled, and then sponged * with nitrate 
of silver, without benefit — pulse, one hundred and 
ten." 

OPINION. 

Yours is a throat ailment, at the entrance of the wind- 
pipe, not as low down as the voice organs. There is 
very considerable active inflammation there. Your 
lungs are a little weakened, nothing more ; the pains in 
the breast are not serious at all, and I see no obstacle to 
your entire recovery. 

I received letter after letter from this young gentle- 
man, stating that no perceptible benefit seemed to fol 



A CLERGYMAN. 33 

low what I advised. He was encouraged to persevere, 
and finally his symptoms began to change, and then 
disappeared; and in two months from his first consul- 
tation, he wrote me to say that he had steadily improved ; 
pulse, permanently at sixty-five ; expressing his obliga- 
tions, &c. This case shows strikingly the advantage of 
perseverance. 

A CLERGYMAN 

(844.) Wrote to me for advice in reference to a 
throat complaint. I prescribed, and had entirely for- 
gotten the circumstance, when the following letter was 
received : — 

" I began to follow your directions on the 4th day of 
May, not quite three months ago, and have adhered to 
them strictly ever since. I am evidently a great deal 
better. I have lost no flesh ; although it is summer, 
my weight has not varied three pounds since I wrote to 
you ; it is now one hundred and forty -nine pounds. My 
tonsils are diminished, and give me no uneasiness, ex- 
cept in damp weather. From my throat, which is now 
generally perfectly comfortable, I am continually bring- 
ing up a pearly substance. Sometimes it is perfectly 
clear, and like the pure white of an egg. But this is a 
mighty change. At first, I could not talk five minutes 
in the family circle. My throat was constantly tickling 
and burning ; so that a mustard plaster, which took all 
the skin off my neck in front, was a comfort ; but now 1 
can talk as much as I wish, read a page or so aloud, and 
am almost tempted to sing a little." 

On the 9th of March, a distinguished clergyman, 

young, and of great promise, made to me the following 

statement : " Unusual circumstances compelled me to 

perform an immense amount of clerical labor, the work 

2* 



34 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

of three men; but it seemed unavoidable. I broke 
down, and was attacked seven months ago, in apparent 
health, with a sudden fit of coughing, which lasted three 
hours. I lost my voice ; went to New York for medical 
advice ; thence to Jamaica, in the West Indies ; re- 
turned to the United States still an invalid, not having 
dared to preach since my first attack." 

He had night and morning cough, and the usual aus- 
cultatory signs of the loss of the upper portion of one 
lung. He was spitting up daily, quantities of thick, 
heavy, yellow matter. He said he was engaged to be 
married to a lovely woman, but that if his was a hope- 
less case, he could not reconcile it to his conscience to 
marry. He had great personal popularity, was almost 
idolized by his people, and a large circle of family con- 
nections. Here was a case well calculated to excite the 
highest interest of a physician. 

He wrote April 3d, " My voice and throat are as clear 
as they ever were in my life." Some months after- 
wards he called to see me, to say that he was well and 
was married. Two years later I heard that he conti- 
nued well. 

In many of the above cases, it may be seen how often 
a permanent hoarseness or huskiness, or loss of voice ; 
or soreness in the throat, or painful pricking sensation 
in swallowing ; or a gradual change of voice, end in 
death, sooner or later, if neglected; and the hope is, 
that the reader will take warning by these, and by 
timely application, save himself from a death at once 
painful and often extremely sudden, coming on in the 
dead hour of night, when there is no unusual or alarm- 
ing symptom the preceding day. 



HOW PERSONS GET BRONCHITIS. 35 

It was of the acute form of this disease General 
Washington died after an ilness of about 24 hours. 

HOW DO PERSONS GET BRONCHITIS'? 

In the same manner as a common cold, for Bronchitis 
is a common cold protracted, settling not on the lungs, 
but on the branches of the windpipe, clogging them up 
with a secretion thicker than is, natural ; this adheres 
to the inside of the tube-like branches, and to a certain 
extent closes them : hence, but a small portion of air 
gets into the lungs. Nature soon begins to feel the de- 
ficiency, and instinctively makes extra effort to obtain 
the necessary quantity, in causing the patient to draw 
in air forcibly instead of doing it naturally an/l without 
an effort. This forcible inspiration of external air 
drives before it the accumulating phlegm, and wedges 
it more compactly in a constantly -diminishing tube, until 
the passage is entirely plugged up. The patient makes 
greater efforts to draw in the air, but these plugs of 
mucus arrest it, and there is a feeling as if the air did 
not get down to its proper place, or as if it were stopped 
short, causing a painful stricture, or cord-like sensation, 
or as some express it, a stoppage of breath. If relief is 
not given in such cases, either by medicine judiciously 
administered, or by a convulsive effort of nature at a 
cough, which is a sudden and forcible expulsion of such 
air as happened to be on the other side of the plug, the 
patient would die ; and they often do feel as if they 
could not possibly live an hour. This is more particu- 
larly a description of an attack of Acute Bronchitis. 
Chronic Bronchitis is but a milder form of the same 
thing, very closely allied in the sensations produced, if 



l 



36 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

not indeed in the very nature of the thing, to what may 
be considered a kind of 

PERPETUAL ASTHMA, 

which may in most cases be removed and warded off 
for an indefinite time by the use of very little medicine, 
if the patient could be induced to have a reasonable de- 
gree of self-denial and careful perseverance. 

HOW DO PERSONS BECOME CONSUMPTIVE 1 ? 

It is in many cases inherited from parents or grand- 
parents ; but as countless thousands bring it on them- 
selves, it may be more instructive to know how it was 
done, in some of the cases coming under the Author's 
notice. 

S. T. " Healthy until thirty months ago, when a slight 
cough was first noticed, often returning at shortening 
intervals, and continuing longer, until eighteen months 
since, when I spat a teacup of clear blood. Soon after, 
a continued cough came on. Seven months later had 
another spitting of blood." Has now a fixed cough, and 
is in the advanced stages of consumption. 

J. J. S. " Three years ago rode to church, in Septem- 
ber ; sat by an open window, took a bad cold, neglected 
it ; chills came on, followed by fever and night sweats ; 
in a month had a first spitting of blood, a pint at once ; 
in a year had a settled cough, another haemorrhage and 
wasting of flesh." 

J. M. " Was perfectly healthy until two and a half 
years ago, when had frequent attacks of chill and fever ; 
has fallen off a great deal ; thin face, flabby muscles, 
dark hair, freckled skin, great weakness, distressing 
cough ; lungs half gone." Death inevitable. 



HOW PERSONS BECOME CONSUMPTIVE. 37 

J. R. M. "Was perfectly healthy until eighteen 
months ago. After being very much fatigued and over- 
heated, in summer, laid down on a sofa, in a passage, 
both doors open, a considerable draught of air, no cover- 
ing, fell asleep, waked up in a chill, got up, became 
temporarily blind, and have had a cough from that day to 
this. In six months after that first chill, spat blood, a 
pint, and once since, a little. First wife died of con- 
sumption. We had five children ; all died before her." 
This case utterly hopeless. 

H. F. R. " Had robust health until three years ago, 
when travelling in mid-winter, took a bad cold, which 
made me feel as sore as if I had been beaten all over. 
This wore off, but cough came on, gradually increasing, 
until it became so violent that a blood-vessel was rup- 
tured, causing profuse bleeding, followed by great weak- 
ness." His lungs have decayed away until more than 
one half of them are useless to him. 

W. A. B. " Went a hunting ; it rained in the morn- 
ing, wet all my clothing ; still hunted on till night ; was 
then taken with a terrible chill and hoarseness ; did not 
speak above a whisper for a week ; was confined to bed 
several weeks, with a very sore throat, headache ; grad- 
ually got about, but a settled cough was left behind, 
which has constantly grown worse." This patient has 
now all the worst symptoms of advanced consumption. 

D. B. " Worked hard all day ; came home, laid down 
on a settee in an open porch, and slept until ten o'clock ; 
waked up, felt chilly and bad ; cough came on, most 
troublesome on getting up and on lying down ; now 
expectorate large quantities of yellow matter, extreme 
prostration, strength and flesh nearly all gone." No 
hope of cure. 



38 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

N. K. "Took cold a year ago, from walking in the 
rain ; this was repeated several times ; a cough came on, 
scarcely noticeable at first, but has steadily increased, 
until it now troubles me night and day, attended with 
night sweats, large yellow expectoration, great debility, 
almost out of breath if I walk up a few stairs." On 
examination, half the lungs were gone. 

C. H. " While heated from exertion, made a mis-step 
in crossing water, and fell in ; neglected to change, the 
clothing, felt chilly, cough came on next day, and con- 
stantly increased," with the ordinary symptoms of con- 
sumption, of which she died a short time after I saw her. 

E. H., the daughter of a Southern Planter, at the age 
of seventeen, was riding on horseback to a fourth of July 
celebration, at a critical time ; a shower came on, the 
ride was continued, the clothing unchanged ; cessation 
came, cough, wasting, weakness, and death in eighteen 
months. 

M. H., aged eighteen, sitting in a porch at Long 
Branch until ten o'clock or later, of a summer evening, 
became chilly; continued the practice; a slight cough 
came on ; then a small expectoration of blood, cessation 
followed, no alarm ; the sea breeze appeared perfectly 
delightful ; the practice was continued, followed by 
death in fourteen months. 

J. A. " Worked hard for several days in a mill-race, 
with lower limbs in the water from morning until night ; 
took cold, cough followed," and died in two years. 

P. G. " Was engaged in drawing plank from a raft, at 
Pittsburgh, in November; feet were in water nearly all 
day for weeks together ; took cold, left a cough, night 
sweats came on," and died in eighteen months. 

S. R. " Was a stout, healthy farmer ; went to the 



HOW PERSONS BECOME CONSUMPTIVE. 39 

Legislature in mid- winter ; was confined a great deal in 
small heated rooms; going out often, day and night, 
into the cold, piercing, damp air ; took a bad cold, which 
left a settled cough ; spitting of blood and general decay- 
followed." 

B. S. started to a party in a carriage, in winter, hav- 
ing on a warm pair of woollen stockings, put on in her 
mother's presence and by her requirements, but changed 
them for a silken pair at the door of the ball-room ; feet 
became very cold before leaving the room ; waked up 
next morning with a sore throat ; a slight cough followed 
in a few days ; parents became alarmed. She was sent 
abroad ; no improvement ; and as the vessel entered the 
bay of New York she died — in sight of home. And 
thus perished one of the loveliest women the writer ever 
knew, in her nineteenth year. 

C. M. A young man of great promise and worldly 
expectations, became possessed of the idea, that by 
accustoming himself to hardships, he would establish 
his constitution ; therefore, whenever he rode, he would 
ride in a gallop — if it were in heat, or rain, or snow, all 
the better. Often, while bathed in perspiration, and 
weakened by long rides and fasting, he would, on coming 
to a creek or bayou, swollen by recent rains, plunge in 
— horse, clothing, and all — and then ride five, ten, or 
twenty miles, home. He died of confirmed, unmistaken 
consumption, in my presence, having just looked over his 
merchant's account rendered, of the sales of a large 
crop of cotton. 

All the above cases were fatal from undisputed con- 
sumptive diseases. They were selected purposely to 
show that such causes, trivial as they may appear, do 
lead to a malady which baffles all human skill ; and they 



40 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

are wisest, who take most pains to avoid them, and to 
impress upon the minds of their children, as a part of 
their education, the importance of taking care of their 
health ■ and not only this, but how to do it ; for the 
heritage of millions of money does not weigh a feather 
in the scale, against a young body full of health and 
manly vigor. 

Very many persons trace their Consumption to a slight 
cough, which followed an attack of Fever, or Pleurisy, 
long continued Chills and Fever, Measles disappearing 
too soon ; and very few ever recover who have Con- 
sumption from this last named cause. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THROAT-AIL. 

In other words, how do the circumstances which have 
been named as the causes of this malady, operate so as 
to develope it ? 

Pain, sickness, and disease, arise from a faulty circu- 
lation of the blood, fast or slow. A needle cannot be 
pressed on any spot in the body, without drawing blood, 
showing that blood vessels are everywhere, that these 
vessels are too small to be seen by the naked eye, and 
that the blood must be confined to them, and not flow- 
ing about in the system. As the sap of a tree flows 
from the trunk through every spreading^ branch to the 
farthest extremity of the smallest twig, so the blood 
gushes out from the heart, running through all the 
branching arteries, growing continually smaller, and 
spreading wider, until they are too minute to be seen by 
the naked eye; but when this blood has reached the 
ends of the arteries, it does not stop, but passes on a 
space, and enters the veins, which gradually become 
larger and fewer, until they form one trunk, which 



PHILOSOPHY OF THROAT-AIL. 41 

empties all its blood into the heart again, as the great 
Mississippi is formed by innumerable smaller streams, 
growing larger, fewer, concentering, finally making one 
great flood, opening into the boundless sea. But each 
minute artery does not empty itself directly into some 
riewless vein: a smaller tube than either, connects the 
two ; these tubes are called Capillaries, from their fine- 
ness, being hair-like, as the Latin word Capilla means a 
hair ; and as the finest hair of the Caucassian race, is a 
hollow tube, so are these connecting capillaries hollow, 
and in the transit of the blood through them are all the 
issues of life and death to men. When these hair-like 
tubes are in natural, healthful working order, they are 
strong enough to pass the blood from the arteries to the 
veins in natural quantity and proportion, but if they are 
weakened, or too much blood is presented for transmis- 
sion, that instant disease begins, for not being passed 
off soon enough, that is, not as fast as it comes in, an 
accumulation is inevitable, the capillary becomes clog- 
ged up, distended with blood, and is soon large enough 
to be seen, just as when the eye is injured, red streaks 
appear on the white of the eye, which were not observ- 
ed in health ; becoming distended, these capillaries 
take up more room than is natural, and must inevi- 
tably crowd upon some other part; and as nerves are 
everywhere, it crowds, presses on them, and gives pain, 
more or less, according to the amount of pressure, that 
is, of room taken up by the swoln capillary ; every one 
knows that the slightest pressure of a needle on the skin 
gives pain, because it touches a nerve, and where there 
is no nerve, there is no pain. Now these little capilla- 
ries, when thus clogged up, must get rid of the extra 
blood, or they will burst. Nature first endeavors to re- 



42 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

move the accumulation, and the thin substance of which 
these capillaries are made, is distended, and the thinnest 
part of the blood oozes through the sides, and stands on 
the outside, in the shape of a distinct globule, small as 
the tiniest dew drop upon the leaf of spring ; any one 
may observe the like process in a leathern hose pipe at a 
fire ; it soon becomes wet on the outside from the great 
pressure from within, and however muddy may be the 
water in the hose, that on the outside is clear ; but if the 
pressure were to be continually increased, the im purer 
portions of the water would begin to exude, until act- 
ually muddy water would be seen, or the pipe burst : 
now for the application of this to the explanation of the 
phenomena of Throat- Ail, Bronchitis, and Consumption. 
In Throat- Ail, the voice making organs are first af 
fected, and then the voice itself: these organs are four 
little muscles, or tendons, or strings at the upper end of 
the windpipe, at Adam's Apple, two on each side, one 
above the other, some quarter of an inch apart, running 
front and rear ; the blood vessels of the system spread 
out over every part of the body, as a vine spreads itself 
over the side of a wall, and just so are they spread over 
the voice strings, and when, by any means, they become 
weakened, the blood accumulates, distends them, and 
the clogging up still going on, the thinner portions 
escape, or ooze through the sides, and become a little 
thickened, that instant the voice strings do not vibrate 
freely, do not give a natural sound, any more than a 
violin string would give a clear sound, if any gluey sub- 
stance were put on it ; hence, hoarseness and huskiness, 
the great, the distinguishing, universal symptom of 
Throat-Ail. But as soon as the thinner portion of the 
blood becomes separated from the blood itself, and gets 



PHILOSOPHY OF BRONCHITIS. 43 

on the outside of the capillary, instead of the inside, it 
becomes a foreign body ; nature gets weary, and seeks 
to cast it out ; hence the instinctive hawking, hemming, 
or endeavoring to swallow it away, just as many persons 
endeavor to swallow a pill away, for some minutes after 
it is taken ; and no one ever has Throat- Ail who is not 
troubled, more or less, with this incessant hawking, 
hemming, or fruitless swallowing. At this stage of dis- 
ease, a perfect cure is easily performed in a few days, 
simply by using rational means to aid nature in getting 
rid of the accumulation of blood in the capillaries of the 
part ; on the other hand, if neglected, it goes on uniform- 
ly to a fatal Consumption, as follows : 

After the thinner portions of the blood have escaped, 
the clogging still going on, a thicker substance exudes, 
and the patient expectorates a great deal ; it does not 
necessarily produce a cough, it is not far enough down 
to require that : a hawk or hem, or violent clearing of 
the throat is all that is requisite to get it away, but the 
cause remaining, it begins at once to gather again ; if no 
relief is now afforded, the blood vessels, by the continued 
strain, lose all their power, the blood bursts out, a sore 
is formed, this becomes an ulcer, the chords are eaten 
away, and the voice is gone forever ! Ulceration now 
progresses rapidly, the windpipe is eaten through, or it 
runs down to the lungs, and all is over. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF BRONCHITIS. 

When more blood is in an artery than there ought to 
be, it is called " inflammation ;" if more in a vein, it is 
called " congestion ;" there is no special name for there 
being more blood than is natural in a capillary ; but the 
word congestion answers well for all three. The little 



44 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

word of four letters, itis, pronounced always etis, means 
flame-like, or reddish, and when any part of the body is 
permanently redder than it ought to be, in consequence 
of too much blood being in the arteries of that part, as 
in the white of the eye, when injured, that part is said 
to be inflamed, and it is not only flame-like in appear- 
ance, but is also warmer than natural : the word itis, 
then, invariably means, when attached to the name of 
any particular part of the body, that such a part has 
more blood in its small blood-vessels than is natural. 
Thus, the word Bronchitis, means simply more blood in 
the small blood-vessels which spread themselves over 
the inside walls of the branches of the windpipe, than 
there ought to be. These branches of the windpipe are 
called Bronchi, or bronchial tubes, from a Greek word 
Brecho, which means to moisten, because the ancients 
thought, as solid food was conveyed into the stomach by 
the gullet, which is behind the windpipe, so fluids were 
conveyed into the system by means of the windpipe and 
its branches, thus, itis added to Bronchi, means more 
blood than is natural in the small blood-vessels which 
spread out over the inner walls of the branches of the 
windpipe, being an admirable illustration of the beautiful 
correctness, succinctness, and expressiveness of medical 
terms, "hard" as they are generally thought to be, ten 
letters being made to express what would otherwise 
require twenty -five words. 

The philosophy, then, of Bronchitis is, the smaller 
blood-vessels spread out over the inner walls of the 
branches of the windpipe being so congested, clogged up 
with blood, that the thinner Watery portions of the blood 
are made to ooze through the- pores into the bronchi ; 
hence, in the first stages of bronchitis, there is a water 



PHILOSOPHY OF BRONCHITIS. 45 

ing of the nose, which is a part of the air-passages ; as 
the clogging goes on, it begins to ooze out more, accu- 
mulation takes place, the bronchial tubes begin to be 
filled, the air cannot pass freely through them, into and 
out of the Lungs, and the patient complains grievously 
of "fullness" of " oppression" of a " cord-like feeling 
across his breast" of a " want of 'breath ," and, without 
relief he would soon die, but Nature comes to his aid by 
an instinctive cough, which is nothing more than a sud- 
den forcing of air through a bronchi, for the purpose of 
loosening and carrying before it, the obstruction, that is, 
the oozed-out substance just spoken of, just as boys at 
school, by a sudden and forcible breath, cause a feathered 
arrow to be ejected through a long reed ; hence, the 
three inevitable and universal symptoms of Bronchitis, 
difficult breathing, violent coughing, and large expectora- 
tion of a most gluey, tenacious, sticky, pearly-like sub- 
stance, sometimes half a pint or more in a day, for days 
and weeks in succession, It is often so sticky, adheres 
so closely to the insides of the Bronchi, that the efforts 
of Nature to dislodge it by cough become so violent and 
exhausting, that the patient feels that if he had to cough 
a single time more, he would die, and falls back on his 
bed, perfectly exhausted and helpless, and wringing wet 
with perspiration, only to be renewed again in a short 
half hour or less, day and night, for weeks together, 
unless relieved. At this stage of the malady, relief and 
cure are prompt, uniform, and permanent, by simply 
giving such mild medicines as will dilute this tough, 
adhering substance, and thus make its detachment from 
the sides of the Bronchi easy ; the next step is to give 
other remedies which will afford additional strength to 
the capillaries, by which they will be able to transmit 



i 



46 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

larger quantities of blood, until equilibrium is restored ; 
this is to be done by thinning the blood, diminishing its 
quantity, and improving its quality, thus strengthening 
the whole system, and in proportion, every part of it. 
But if neglected, instead of being cured at this point, 
the clogging goes on, as in Throat- Ail — the blood-vessels 
burst, ulceration begins, the parts are eaten away, large 
quantities, not of a glairy, pearly look, are spit up, but 
of a heavy, yellow, darkish, greenish, or rusty-color — a 
tea-cup full or more in a day, the drains of the system 
tend that way, as drift-wood tends to a broken part of a 
mill-dam, and the patient, imagining that he is spitting 
away his lungs, concludes that they must be almost 
entirely gone, and gives up all hope of life, yet he 
can be cured at this point, and in a fortnight be walk- 
ing the streets, because the lungs themselves were not 
touched by disease, it had not reached that far; but 
now, if there is further delay, ulceration rapidly pro- 
gresses, and Bronchi, Lungs and all, break down toge- 
ther in death. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONSUMPTION. 

Consumption is a disease of the lungs themselves, 
which are little cells or bladders at the extremity of the 
branches of the windpipe, are of all sizes, from that of a 
pea, downwards ; and millions in number ; when the 
blood-vessels which spread out on the inside of these 
little cells, as a vine spreads over a wall, become too 
full of blood, the thinner portion oozes out, as before 
described in Throat-Ail and Bronchitis, and stands at 
first, a clear little drop, then thickens, increases, hardens, 
and becomes a hateful tubercle ' and two results follow. 
It has become a foreign body, small as a crumb of bread 



PHILOSOPHY OF CONSUMPTION. 47 

though each tubercle be, yet like a crumb of bread which 
has " gone the wrong way," it excites a tickling cough, 
trifling at first, but constantly increasing in violence to 
the end of life ; thus cough is the general attendant of 
consumption, from its stealthy access, to its dreadful 
end. 

A second result of the presence of tubercle is, that 
each one takes up a little room, no larger perhaps than 
the head of a pin, yet when these amount to thousands, 
the room for air in the lungs is materially diminished ; 
hence consumptives not being able to take in air enough, 
always complain of so easily "getting out of breath" of 
being " so easily tired.'''' 

And here let the reader's attention be drawn to what 
the Author considers the happiest thought of modern 
times, the most magnificent application of a scientific 
principle ever made, as to medicine, dimly outlined by 
Abernethy, but not matured and made practical until 
within a very few years, that of determining the begin- 
ning of Consumption, to be at a point when the lungs 
first begin to consume the first cubic inch less of air 
than they ought to do, which is generally long before 
the slightest cough has ever been observed. To do 
this, two things are necessary. 1st. To know how much 
air any given man's lungs hold when in full and health- 
ful operation. 2d. To be able to measure the amount 
accurately, infallibly, mathematically, down to a single 
cubic inch. It is sufficient to say here, that the first is 
certainly known, and that the second is as certainly and 
demonstrably done. Each person requires a given 
amount of air, in proportion to age, size, sex, &c, but 
every person of given physical requirements must con- 
sume the same minimum amount of air, or disease is 



48 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

inevitable. It is easy then to perceive, that if a man 
should measure two hundred cubic inches of air in 
health, he would, if half his lungs had consumed away, 
measure only one hundred inches ; and so of any other 
proportion, larger or smaller. And as the lungs begin 
to be filled up with tubercles, long, long, before they 
begin to consume away ; and, as previous to the con- 
suming process, every body knowing anything at- all 
medically, knows that consumptive disease is perma- 
nently removable, it follows demonstrably, that if pro- 
per means were used when the breath first begins to fail, 
that consumption is, at that stage, as certainly curable 
as certainty can be affirmed of any therapeutic agency 
on record. And if the public could be induced to take 
up this fact, and act upon it rationally and practically, 
and could prevent its being turned into ridicule by ig- 
norant and unprincipled peripatetic lecturers, not one 
need die of consumption, where thousands now do. 

The Author dislikes hobbies, and will not here fur- 
ther insist upon the application of the principle in cer- 
tainly determining the first, faint, far-off approaches of 
consumptive disease, but will state that to the judi- 
cious application of this principle, with the aids of 
auscultation and general medical experience, he owes 
the ability to give the plain, and specific written opinions 
of a previous page, every one of which time has con- 
firmed. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF THROAT-AIL. 

The general history of the beginning, progress, and 
end of a case, is as follows : — 

An uneasy feeling is present in the upper part of the 
throat, causing a frequent tendency to swallow, as if 



i 



GENERAL HISTORY OF THROAT-AIL. 40 

some obstruction might be removed thereby. In other 
cases, there is a constant hemming or hawking, in oider 
to clear the throat of some sticky or glutinous stuff, ad- 
hering to the back part of it ; then the voice is not of 
that clear, ringing sound as formerly : or if it is made 
clear, it requires an effort, which shows that something 
is wrong ; for nature works without an effort ; after a 
while the effort becomes such as to cause fatigue. The 
voice has to be pushed out as it were ; at length it be- 
comes hoarse or cracked, after unusual speaking or read- 
ing; this is more perceptible after meals, or towards 
evening : some soreness begins now to be felt in the 
region of Adam's-Apple. There may be as yet no 
cough ; and for weeks and months it may make no per- 
ceptible progress, even getting better; but sooner or 
later it becomes worse again from exposure to changes 
of weather and other causes; and thus it alternates, 
until the patient becomes exhausted in his efforts to get 
rid of it ; the strength declines ; the cough appears ; the 
constitution yields, and death closes the scene. 

It must be remembered that, sometimes, no cough 
makes its appearance until within a few weeks of death, 
but the voice becomes more and more cracked, dis- 
cordant and husky; it requires the utmost effort to 
enounce a word above a whisper ; the whole body seems 
to exert itself in the pronunciation of every syllable, 
and not only the throat, but the whole system is wearied 
with the effort ; yet generally unattended with extreme 
pain, in or about the throat. Sometimes the voice be- 
comes utterly extinct previous to dissolution. 

In the progress of the disease, ulcers form in the throat, 
so far down as not to be visible to the common eye, and 
these ulcers pour out, day by day, enormous quantities 

3 



50 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

of the most offensive stuff, matter, blood, mucus, pure 
or mixed, a great deal of which is got rid of by expecto- 
ration, a whole pint of it in a day sometimes ; another 
part goes by way of the stomach, destroying its tone 
and power of digestion, and the patient wonders " where 
so much corruption comes from !" and assures the physi- 
cian that he " must have spit up all the lungs before 
now;" and yet, on a proper examination, the lungs will 
be found unbroken and undecayed. While this affords 
encouragement to persons who appear to have consump- 
tion, to have their cases properly examined, perchance 
the lungs may happily be sound, notwithstanding the 
threatening nature of appearances ; it at the same time 
points out the necessity of prompt attention in all cases 
where there is any ailment about the throat, or any 
alteration of the voice whatever. 

Many distinguished names, such as Piorry, Chomel, 
Louis, Belloc, Andral, Columbat De L'Isere, Sir Charles 
Bell, Stokes, Horace Green, and others, bear the most 
unhesitating testimony to this important and interesting 
truth : " There can be no doubt that a person may have 
all the apparent signs of consumption of the lungs, in 
consequence of the throat affection, and the lungs them- 
selves be free from disease." 

In view of this, how strongly does the irresistible con- 
viction fasten itself upon the mind of every reflecting 
reader, that many have been hastily abandoned, as being 
in the last stages of Consumption, because they had 
cough, emaciation, night sweats, and difficult breathing, 
when a skilful physician would have detected in the 
throat alone, a sufficient cause for these alarming symp- 
toms, and, by a short course of judicious treatment, have 
rescued them from an untimely grave. 



TWO CLERGYMEN. 51 

A clergyman called upon me, in New Orleans last 
winter, for an examination and opinion of his case, which 
his friends had supposed hopeless consumption. I con- 
sidered it one of throat disease in the main, and treated 
it accordingly. In two months he writes to me : 

fa Dear Sir : Your prescriptions began in a few days 
to act very favorably. My cough is more than half 
abated — digestion improved fifty per cent., strength 
and spirits in like proportion — nothing seemed against 
me but too frequent pulse. My throat and voice 
improved wonderfully, and my respiration very much 
helped," &c. 

The rapid improvement in this case could only have 
taken place on the ground of my opinion being correct 
as to the character of his ailment — and yet he had been 
sent an interminable journey south, from Kentucky 
through Florida, and, as he informed me, " got worse all 
the time." What a world of distress and anxiety, and 
what a large expenditure of time and money might have 
been saved to this gentleman, had a more truthful opin- 
ion been formed of his case before he left home. 

Another clergyman, after having been under treatment 
for some time, writes me, and after relating the favor- 
able changes which had taken place, says : 

"And, permit me to say, Doctor, that I shall ever 
cherish, with grateful remembrance, the day I first visit- 
ed your office for advice and prescription, and that you 
may long live to relieve the sufferings of the human 
family, and enjoy that happiness which a consciousness 
of doing good gives its possessor, is the prayer of your 
obedient servant." 

A gentleman, whose life was of considerable import- 
ance to the community, called at my office wishing to 



52 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

know my opinion of his case. On a careful examina- 
tion, I told him he was suffering more from a throat 
disease than anything else, and that there was no effi- 
cient remedy. As I could do him no material good, I 
dismissed him, expecting to see him no more. Early 
next morning he returned, and said, " you must do some- 
thing for my throat." I prescribed, and he got better 
rapidly, very rapidly. Knowing, however, that he could 
not recover, and seeing that every day he was cherishing 
new hopes of life, I thought it best to acquaint his wife, 
to whom he had not long been married, that I considered 
him in a dangerous condition, and advised an immediate 
return to his friends, assuring her, at the same time, in 
the most positive terms, that he was liable to die within 
any hour. He could not be induced to assent to my 
views, and T advised him to call in another physician. 
He did so, and I withdrew. Within ten days, though 
apparently better, his wife heard a singular noise while 
her husband was sleeping, and before she could go to 
the family apartment, to give the alarm and return, he 
was dead. This sudden death sometimes arises from 
ulcers forming in the windpipe or its branches, and 
closing up the passages so that no air can pass ; or an 
ulcer bursts and fills up the passages with matter, so 
as to suffocate. Sometimes the ulcers eat through the 
sides of the air passages, and making communications 
with adjoining parts, produce irritation, inflammation, 
and death. 

A gentleman called at my office with a distressing 
hoarseness of voice, but no soreness ; it required a great 
effort for him to speak distinctly. He had just placed 
himself under the care of a physician, who was said to 
have had some success in curing throat diseases ; but 



GENERAL HISTORY OF BRONCHITIS. 53 

hearing that I was in town, he called on me to know 
what I thought of his condition. I was obliged to say 
that he would die in a few days, and declined prescrib- 
ing; first, because I knew that I could do him no mate- 
rial good ; and second, I considered it would not be just 
toward his physician, to abandon his treatment without 
giving it a fair trial. I saw him on the street sevei^al 
times afterwards, but within ten days I was hastily sum- 
moned to see him, and found him dead from suffocation. 
It ought to be extensively known that there are seve- 
ral forms of throat disease, which render those who 
have them liable to sudden death ; this is especially 
true of acute and chronic Laryngitis, from swelling, in- 
flammation, or exudation about the upper part of the 
Larynx, which close the sides, and prevent breathing. 
This is very liable to come on in the night, during sleep; 
the breath is gradually stopped, the person becomes un- 
conscious ; instinctive struggles may give the alarm, but 
death usually ensues, before any person can be called; 
of this Washington died, after an illness of a few hours. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF BRONCHITIS. 

It begins as a common " bad cold," the eyes are weak 
and watery ; there is a running from the nose, chilliness, 
appetite fails, general weakness ; there is a feeling of 
fullness all over the breast, of being stuffed up, great 
difficulty in drawing in the breath ; cough commences, 
spiteful, quick and dry at first, then more loose, and ex- 
pectoration begins, of a tough, tenacious, gluey, pearly 
substance, a cup full in a day. These coughing spells 
are usually most severe of mornings on first waking up ; 
at length, as the patient gets weaker and worse, the ex- 
pectoration becomes yellow, greenish, black, bloody or 



54 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

rusty colored — sometimes of a bad smell, indescribable. 
The cough, which at first was curative, is now tearing, 
exhausting, and almost insupportable — aggravating every 
symptom, and wearing the patient to a welcome grave. 

GENERAL HISTORY OF CONSUMPTION. 

No two cases of this disease are precisely alike in 
every particular ; yet, in general, the feelings and symp- 
toms in its beginning, progress, and end, are as follows : 

In nearly every case, Consumption begins with a 
slight, short, tickling cough in the morning ; but as it 
occurs only now and then, and is so very slight, that only 
one or two efforts at coughing are made on getting up, it 
is not noticed at this stage ; after a while, this cough 
occurs occasionally during the day ; it may be next ob- 
served on lying down at night, or some minutes after 
being in bed ; a single cough or two ; coming on quite 
suddenly, as if produced by a particle of dust in the 
throat, from the pillow or bedding. Soon the morning 
cough increases, and the night cough comes on regular- 
ly ; damp weather, or a sudden spell of cold weather, 
increases it, and the person says he has " caught a cold, 
some how or other ;" but it does not go off of itself, like 
a cold used to do ; it " hangs on," and is increased by 
every slight change in the moisture or temperature of 
the atmosphere. The patient now begins to think he 
had " better take something" for his cold. He might 
discover, however, by this time, that it does not affect 
him as a cold used to do ; for several years ago, when 
he took a cold, he remembered that it made him " feel 
bad all over ;" his appetite decreased ; his nose would 
run almost constantly ; occasioning a snuffling every few 
minutes, with a stopping up in the "head ; and he would 



GENERAL HISTORY OF CONSUMPTION. 55 

cough, and cough hard, any time during the day, spit- 
ting up more or less of heavy yellow matter ; and he 
describes himself as being " out of sorts ;" but the cold 
he now has is "quite a different thing ; his head is not 
stopped up ; his nose does not run ; his appetite is quite 
good ; he does not feel bad at all ; he spits up no yellow 
matter during the day or night either ; but he has sim- 
ply a dry, short, tickling cough, which keeps him from 
going to sleep when he first gets into bed at night ; and 
which comes on in the morning as soon as he gets up, 
and begins to stir about ; and with the exception of this, 
when he goes to bed, and when he gets up, he says he 
" feels well enough," having no headache, no fever, no 
burning feeling about the nostrils, and repeats for the 
hundredth time, " if I could only get rid of this cough, I 
would be as well as I ever was in my life." He then 
determines to "take something." Every body has a 
prescription that cured such and such a one, who " had 
just such a cough, only worse and of a longer duration, 
and it is so simple that it could not possibly hurt any 
one." Some of these do no good whatever ; others give 
relief, but soon appear not to have the desired effect, and 
something else is resorted to, with similar results. But 
long before this time, a practiced observer will have no- 
ticed that other changes have been taking place ; because, 
every hour, the disease has been digging its way deep 
down into the vitals. The pulse is more rapid than natural, 
has more of a quick, thread-like, spiteful beat ; and too 
weak, besides ; the patient is more easily tired than for- 
merly, especially in going up stairs, or walking up a hill 
or gentle ascent ; when he attempts to do any thing, he 
" gives out " sooner than he used to, causing him to 
have an occasional shortness of breath ; about this time, 



56 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

he finds occasionally that he cannot take a full long 
breath as formerly ; something seems to cut it short, 
leaving an unsatisfied feeling ; his friends observe that he 
is as lively as usual, and indeed more so ; he feels, and 
appears cheerful ; and is quick in his movements ; but 
before he does much, or walks far, he becomes very 
weak about the legs and knees ; and there is a great 
craving for a place to sit down upon, and rest awhile ; 
and if a sofa or bed is near, it feels at first so comfort- 
able that he is inclined to stay there ; now and then 
there is a feeling of weight in the breast, dull, heavy, or 
cold-like; if he leans forward much, his breast gives 
way ; pains, more or less transient, or permanent, are 
felt in some part of the chest ; often these are at the 
lower edge of the ribs ; there is now an occasional fever- 
ishness ; the bowels become costive and loose alternate- 
ly ; sometimes the feet or hands, or both, burn very- 
much ; at others, they are uncomfortably cold ; the pa- 
tient begins to think that he is " falling off" some ; and 
turns to weighing himself with very unsatisfactory re- 
sults ; he perceives that although his appetite is quite 
good, his food does not seem to do him as much good as 
formerly ; there is unusual thirstiness during some part 
of the day ; if the weather is but a little cool, he gets 
very chilly ; after a while, chills frequently run all over 
the body, and along the spine, without any apparent 
cause ; an emotion of the mind, a drink of cold water, 
is sufficient to send a succession of chilly sensations all 
through the system ; while these symptoms are present- 
ing themselves, the original cough, although sometimes 
better, has, in the main, become decidedly worse, and 
continues from ten or fifteen minutes to two hours, ac- 
cording to circumstances; throwing the system into a 



GENERAL HISTORY OF CONSUMPTION. 57 

nervous irritable condition ; effectually preventing sleep 
for half the night, perhaps, when he falls into a doze 
from mere exhaustion; and in the morning he wakes 
up, pale and wan and haggard, without seeming to have 
derived any benefit whatever from his repose ; and 
weak and wretched as he feels, the morning cough now 
attacks him, hard and dry at first, but in a few minutes 
he is relieved, by bringing up more or less of yellow 
matter, mixed with something of a whitish, frothy, bub- 
bly character. Coughing comes on after meals, with 
heaving, and in some cases vomiting, although not spe- 
cially attended with sickness at the stomach. As the 
disease progresses, he emaciates more and more, the 
weakness of the lower limbs increases, the amount of 
yellow matter expectorated becomes greater from day to 
day, while the frothy substance is less ; there is more or 
less of thirst or chilliness between breakfast and din- 
ner, with decided fever in the afternoon, which subsides 
during the fore part of the night, and goes off towards 
morning with a copious, exhausting, and death-like 
sweat, carrying damps and chilliness to the very heart. 
These sweats are accompanied or alternated, with fre- 
quent and thin, watery, light colored passages from the 
bowels, from two or three to a dozen or more in the 
twenty-four hours, attended sometimes with horrible 
griping pains in the bowels ; at other times, there are 
dull pains in the muscles and bones of the limbs, occa- 
sionally almost insupportable. Even yet the patient 
may keep about, and appear quite cheerful ; but his 
steps are slow, measured, and careful ; his body bent 
forward; his shoulders inclining upon -ne breast, and 
towards one another; if he sits down a moment or two, 
his legs are crossed, his arms laid across his thighs, 
3* . 



58 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

presses on his breast by leaning forward, and thus 
throws the whole strain and weight of the body upon it, 
hastening his death by imposing an unnatural and 
unnecessary weight on the struggling lungs, already en- 
feebled and wasted by disease ; he begins now to feel 
best in bed, where he spends the greater portion of the 
twenty-four hours ; his ankles swell, generally the left 
first, often extending to the feet and legs, sometimes 
painfully ; he cannot walk with comfort ; and soon his 
mother earth receives him to her bosom, where myriads 
of her weary children have already gone, to be wasted 
with sickness no more. 

The Author has now given a parallel history of the 
three diseases, in the regular order of Throat-Ail, at the 
top of the windpipe, Bronchitis in the branches of the 
windpipe, and Consumption in the air cells at the ex- 
tremity of the branches of the windpipe ; and for the 
interest the fact will excite in all who have little chil- 
dren, he here states, that Croup, of which so many die 
in spring and fall, is a disease of the windpipe itself; as 
soon as the small blood vessels on its inner walls be- 
come clogged up, they begin to exude through their 
sides, the thinner, the more watery portion of the blood, 
this begins to harden and toughen at once, as the gum 
does, that oozes out on the bark of a tree, that is wounded 
or injured; and the windpipe of a child being small, 
it does not require much to fill it up, and the little suf- 
ferer dies of suffocation ; and when the windpipe is cut 
open after death, its inside is found lined all around (as 
the spout of a tea kettle, in limestone districts, is with 
lime) with a leathery substance, which, to use a strong 
expression, is almost as " tough as a hide" The reader 
may now see the beautiful order, clearness and arrange- 



DEFINITION OF THROAT-AIL, BRONCHITIS, ETC. 59 

ment of these most fearful and fatal diseases of the air 
passages ; and can also so clearly understand their na- 
ture as never to forget. Hitherto, the terms employed 
have not conveyed to common minds any clear, defi- 
nite, distinctive idea; but have left an impression, ill- 
defined, mysterious, unsatisfactory and obscure. 

Throat-Ail, (Chronic Laryngitis, Clergyman's Sore 
Throat, all mean the same thing,) is a disease at the top 
of the windpipe, where the voice organs are. 

Croup or Tracheitis, (because trachea is the Latin 
name for windpipe) is a disease of the windpipe itself. 

Bronchitis is a disease of the branches of the wind- 
pipe. 

Consumption is a disease of the air cells or lui igs them- 
selves, which are at the ends of the branches of the 
windpipe, as leaves are at the ends of the branches of a 
tree. 

This appears to the Author, to be the plainest and 
most satisfactory, as well as the most rational theory of 
these diseases; he has entertained them for twenty 
years ; when a better one is presented, he will change. 
Young physicians, and some older ones, may not ac- 
cord with these views, but when these older ones have 
fallen into the slumber that wakes no more, and the 
juniors have had a quarter of a century's more ex- 
perience and observation, the Author believes that the 
above theory will be generally entertained ; most cer- 
tainly, the extraordinary physiological developments of 
Carpenter and Liebig, and others, within five years, are 
strongly confirmatory of these views. 



60 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



PARALLELS. 

Throat-Ail is characterized by hawking, hemming, 
frequent swallowing away of something that appears to 
stick in the throat, and when swallowed away, rises back 
again ; by inconvenience, if not actual pain in swal- 
lowing, by pain sometimes running up to the ear; by 
hoarseness or huskiness of voice, without cough neces- 
sarily, at first, or much expectoration. 

Bronchitis never exists without distressing, exhaust- 
ing cough, and with copious and weakening expectora- 
tion. 

Consumption is a gradual wasting of breath, flesh and 
strength, sometimes without any cough or expectora- 
tion, until within two or three weeks of death. 

Throat-Ail has the uniform symptom of impaired 
voice, or some unnatural, troublesome sensation about 
the " swallow" 

Bronchitis is always attended with watering of the 
eyes or nose, or both, a binding sensation across the 
breast, a stuffed up feeling, large expectoration. 

Consumption has a short, dry, hacking, tickling cough 
at first of mornings on getting out of bed, then on going 
to bed, quick pulse, short breath, easily fatigued in as- 
cending a pair of stairs, or walking up a hill or even 
gently rising ground. 



Throat-Ail is at one end of the breathing organs. 
Consumption is at the other end. 
Bronchitis is between the two. 



In Throat-Ail, there is constant forebodings and ap- 
prehension of ill ; the patient lounges and mopes about, 



PHTHISIS SCIENTIFIC DEFINITION. 61 

and when he sits down, feels as if he would never want 
to get up again. 

In Bronchitis, the cough is so exhausting and distres- 
sing, the invalid often feels as if death would be a wel- 
come event. 

In Consumption, the spirits are usually good ; the pa- 
tient is full of hope, busy in laying out plans for the 
future; how he is going to manage his business, and 
take care of his health hereafter, whatever else may 
suffer; and to every inquiry as to the state of his 
health, the ready answer is, " I'm better." 

phthisis scientific definition. 

Consumption is the Oxydation of the Exudation 
Corpuscle. — This corpuscle, this little body, this tuber- 
cle, this seed of consumption, is an albuminous exuda- 
tion, as minutely described on a preceding page, and 
being deficient in fatty matter, its elementary molecules 
cannot constitute nuclei, capable of cell development ; 
therefore, these nuclei remain abortive, are foreign bodies 
in the lungs, and like all other foreign bodies there, 
cause irritation, tickling. This tickling is a cause of 
cough, as itching is a cause of scratching, both being in- 
stinctive efforts of nature to remove the cause of the 
difficulty. The oxydation, that is, the burning, the soft- 
ening of this corpuscle or tubercle, gives yellow matter 
as a product, just as the burning, that is, the oxydation 
of wood, gives ashes as a product. Thus the yellow 
matter expectorated in consumption is a sign infallible, 
that a destructive, consuming process is going on in the 
lungs, just as the sight of ashes is an infallible sign that 
wood or some other solid substance has been burned, 
that is, destroyed. 



62 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

But why is it that this albuminous exudation, this 
tubercle, this exudation corpuscle, should lack this fatty 
matter, this oil, this carbon, which, did it have, would 
make it a healthy product, instead of being a foreign 
body and a seed of death 1 

Consumption is an error of nutrition. The patient 
has soliloquized a thousand times, " I sleep pretty well, 
bowels regular, and I relish my food, but somehow or 
other it does not seem to do me the good it used to. I 
do not get strong." The reason of this is, that the food 
is imperfectly digested, and when that is the case, acidity 
is the result, which is the distinguishing feature of con- 
sumptive disease. This excess of acid in the alimentary 
canal dissolves the albumen of the food, and carries it 
off into the blood in its dissolved state, making the 
whole mass of blood imperfect, impure, thick, sluggish, 
damming up in the lungs, that is, congesting them, in- 
stead of flowing out to the surface, and keeping the 
skin of a soft feel and a healthful warmth. Thus it is 
that the skin of all consumptives has either a dry, 
hot feel, or a cold, clammy dampness; at one time 
having cold chills creeping over them, causing them 
to shiver in the sun or hover, over the fire ; at another 
time, by the reaction, burning hot, the cheek a glowing 
red, the mouth parched with thirst. Another effect of 
the excess of acidity dissolving the albumen and carry- 
ing it into the blood is, that the blood is deficient in the 
fat, or oil, or carbon, which would have been made by 
the union of this albumen with alkaline secretions ; the 
blood then wanting the fat or fuel which is necessary to 
keep the body warm, that which was already in the 
body, in the shape of- what we call flesh, is used instead, 
and the man wastes away, just as when steamboat men, 



CONSUMPTION AN ERROR OF NUTRITION. 63 

when out of wood, split up the doors, partitions, and 
other parts of the boat, to keep her going ; she moves by- 
consuming herself. So the consumptive lives on, is 
kept warm by the burning up, the oxydation of his own 
flesh every day and every hour ; this same wasting away 
being the invariable, the inseparable attendant of every 
case of true consumption. He lives upon himself until 
there is no more fuel to burn, no more fat or flesh, and 
he dies — " nothing but skin and bone." What, then, 
must be done to cure a man of consumptive disease 1 

He must be made more, as it is called, "fleshy-" 
that is, he must have more fuel, fat, to keep him warm. 

The acidity of the alimentary canal must be removed, 
in order that the food may be perfectly digested, so as 
to make pure blood, such as will flow healthfully and 
actively through every part of the system, and become 
congested, sluggish, stagnant nowhere. 

To remove this acidity, the stomach must be made 
strong, and healthfully active ; but no more than health- 
fully active, so as to convert the food into a substance 
fit for the manufacture of pure blood. 

To make the stomach thus capable of forming a good 
blood material from the aliment introduced into it, as a 
perfect mill converts the grain into good flour or meal, 
there is behind the mill a power to turn it, there are be- 
hind the stomach powers to be exerted. These are those 
of the glandular system, the liver being the main one of all. 
This must be kept in healthful, operating order ; if it 
acts too much or too little, the food is badly manufac- 
tured, and the blood, which is made out of the food, and 
of the food alone, is imperfect and impure. 

After all this is done, there is one more operation, which 
is the finishing touch, and the one by which pure life- 



64 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

giving blood is made ; J^r* a sufficient amount of pure 
air must come in contact with it before blood is consti- 
tuted. This contact takes place in the lungs ; not such 
a contact as the actual commingling of wine and water, 
for the air and what is soon to become blood are not 
mixed together; they are kept separate in different ves- 
sels. The air is in the lungs ; that is, in the little blad- 
ders or cells, and this fluid, which is to be converted 
into blood, is in the little veins or tubes, which are 
spread around over the sides of the air-cells, as a vine is 
spread over a wall ; but these little vessels have sides 
so very thin, that the life-giving material of the air 
passes through into the blood, just as the warmth of the 
sun passes through glass; but while this life-giving 
quality of the air passes into the blood, making it per- 
fect, the impure and deathly ingredients of the blood 
pass out of it, into the air, which has just been deprived 
of its life. Thus it is, that while the air we draw in at a 
single breath is cool and pure and full of life, that which 
is expired is so hurtful, so poisonous, at least so desti- 
tute of life, that were it re-breathed, instantly, uncom- 
bined with other air, by a perfectly healthy person, he 
would instantaneously die. So that pure air in breath- 
ing is most essentially indispensable; first, to impart 
perfection, life, to the blood ; and also to withdraw from 
it its death. No wonder, then, that a plentiful supply 
of pure air is so essential to the maintenance of health, 
so doubly essential to the removal of disease and resto- 
ration to a natural condition. No wonder, then, that 
when a man's lungs are decaying, and thus depriving 
him of the requisite amount of air, he so certainly fades 
away, unless the decay is first arrested, and the lung 
power or capacity restored. 



NECESSITY OF PROPER FOOD PURE AIR. 65 

The great principles, then, involved in the cure of 
Consumptive disease, or, professionally speaking, the 
great indications, are — 

To cause the consumption and healthful digestion of 
the largest amount possible of substantial, nutritious, 
plain food. 

To cause the patient to consume more pure air. 

To bring about the first condition, requires the exer- 
cise of extensive medical knowledge, combined with 
a wide experience and close and constant observation. 
To regulate healthfully the digestive apparatus — that is, 
to keep the whole glandular system of the human body 
in healthfully-working order — requires remedies and 
treatment as varied in their combinations almost as the 
varied features of the human face. Scarcely any two 
persons in a hundred are to be treated in the same way, 
unless you can find them of the same size, age, sex, 
constitution, temperament, country, climate, occupation, 
habits of life, and manner of inducing the disease. Here 
are ten characteristics, which are capable, as every arith- 
metician knows, of a thousand different combinations ; 
so that any person proposing any one thing as a remedy, 
a cure for Consumption, applicable to all cases and 
stages, must be ignorant or infamous beyond expression. 

The two things above named will be always curative 
in proportion to their timely accomplishment. The 
ways of bringing these about must be varied according 
to constitution, temperament, and condition. The mode 
of doing the thing is not the essential, but the thing done. 
Beyond all question, the thing can be done ; Consump- 
tion can be cured, and is cured in various ways. The 
scientific practitioner varies his means according to the 
existing state of the case. The name of the disease is 



66 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

nothing to him : he attacks the symptoms as they are at 
the time of prescribing ; and if he be an experienced 
practitioner, he will know what ought to be done, and 
how it should be attempted, just as a classical scholar 
knows the meaning of a classical phrase or word the first 
time he ever sees it, as perfectly as if he had seen it a 
thousand times before. And without setting myself, up 
as an instructor to my medical brethren, I may here in- 
timate my conviction, that the cure of Consumption 
would be a matter of every day occurrence, if they 
would simply study the nature of the disease, read not a 
word of how it had been treated by others, but observe 
closely every case, and treat its symptoms by general 
principles, as old as the hills, and follow up the treat- 
ment perseveringly, prescribe for the symptoms, and let 
the name and disease go. But, then, they must first 
understand perfectly the whole pathology of the disease 
— its whole nature. That, however, requires years of 
laborious study and patient observation. 

The above things being true, as perhaps none will 
deny, it is worse than idle to be catching up every year 
some new medicine for the cure of Consumption. The 
readiness with which every new remedy is grasped at, 
shows beyond all question that the predecessors have 
been failures. Scores of cures have been eagerly ex- 
perimented upon; — naptha, cod-liver oil, phosphate of 
lime, each will have its day, and each its speedy night, 
simply because no one thing can by any possibility be 
generally applicable, when solely relied upon. The 
physician must keep his eye steadily upon the thing to 
be done, varying the means infinitely, according to the 
case in hand. Therefore, the treatment of every indi- 
vidual case of Consumption should be placed in the 



CELL DEVELOPMENT. 67 

hands of a scientific and experienced physician, and in 
time, and not wait, as is usually the case, until every 
balsam and syrup ever heard of has been tasted, tried, 
and experimented upon, giving the practitioner nothing 
to work upon but a rotten, ruined hulk, leaving scarcely 
anything to do but to write out a certificate of burial, 
and receive as compensation all the discredit of the 
death. 

The necessity of keeping the whole digestive appara- 
tus in high and healthful operation in the successful treat- 
ment of Consumptive disease, is illustrated by a descrip- 
tion of the mode of nutrition, as connected with 

CELL DEVELOPMENT. 

The human body is in constant transition. The par- 
ticles of which its structure is constituted are not the 
same in position and relation for any two minutes in 
succession. Thousands of atoms which compose it the 
present instant, are separated from it the next, to make 
a part of it no more ; and other thousands, which are a 
portion of the reader's living self while scanning this 
line, will have been rendered useless and dead on read- 
ing the next. There are two different armies of workers, 
whose occupations cease not from the cradle to the 
grave. One army, composed of its countless millions, 
is building up the body ; the other removes its waste ; 
one party brings in the wood and the coal for the fire- 
place and the grate, the other carries away the ashes and 
the cinders : — the builders and the cleansers. When the 
builders work faster than the cleansers, a man becomes 
fat, and over-fat is a disease. When the cleansers are 
too active, the man becomes lean, and wastes away to a 



68 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

skeleton, as in Consumption. Health consists in the 
proper equilibrium of these workers. 

Every movement of the body, every thought of the 
mind, is at the expense of a portion of the material 
frame ; that is to say, certain atoms of the living body 
are killed by every action of the mind, by every motion 
of the body, and being dead, are useless. But they 
must be removed from the body, or these " heaps of 
slain " would fill up the workshop of life, and the whole 
machinery would stand still ; the fire-place would be 
filled with ashes, the furnace clogged with cinders, and 
the grate be useless. Vast masses of these dead atoms 
are pushed, worked out, or thrown from the body at the 
surface. At any night, on undressing, the cleanliest 
person may rub from the body countless numbers of 
these dead atoms, a teaspoon-ful of them may be gathered 
from the feet at a single washing, if long neglected. 
Hence the value of thorough daily frictions to the skin, 
as promotive of health, because, on an average, we all 
eat about one-third more than is needed ; thus throw- 
ing on the cleansers a third more labor every twenty- 
four hours than they were designed to perform. By the 
frictions we come to their aid artificially. They are 
wise who perform these frictions daily and well ; but 
wiser they by far who do not eat the extra one-third, 
and consequently do not need to be scrubbed and bathed 
and washed every day of their existence, to save them 
from the effects of over-feeding. Better eat less and save 
trouble. The surplus third would feed half the poor of 
the land. 

But a larger portion of these dead atoms are scattered 
in the more interior parts of the body, and the cleansers 
remove them by first rendering them fluid, as solid ice 



SUPPLY AND WASTE OF THE BODY. 05* 

or snow is made fluid by heat. It is then, as it were, 
sucked up by these cleansers, and conveyed finally to 
the blood, just at the heart, where they are mingled toge- 
ther and sent direct to the lungs, where they meet with 
the pure air that is breathed. Here an exchange takes 
place between the air and the blood. The air gives to 
the blood its oxygen, its life, while the blood gives its 
death to the air. Hence it is that the air gives life as it 
goes into the lungs, but gives death if breathed unmixed 
as it comes from the lungs ; that is, if a healthy person 
were to breathe for three minutes, no other air than that 
which has just come off the lungs of another man, in 
three minutes he would die. Hence the double reason 
for my insisting so much on causing consumptive persons 
to breathe the largest possible amount of pure air ; it 
unloads the blood more perfectly of its dead atoms, and 
also gives life to the essence of food which it also meets 
in the lungs ; that is, puts the finishing work to its becom- 
ing living blood. 

Let us notice next the builders, whose work is to sup- 
ply new and living particles as fast as the old ones fall 
off and die. These new particles are in the blood, which 
delivers its living freight as it flows through the body, as 
a steamer delivers its freight to the thousand different 
ports as it ploughs along the majestic Mississippi. 
Whenever a living particle comes to the point where it 
is needed to supply the place of one just fallen or dead, 
by some inscrutable, inexplicable agency, as quick as 
electricity Itself, a vesicle, a cell, a little boat, as it were, 
is formed, which floats it to the spot, delivers its charge, 
and bursts and dies, its duty done, the objects of its crea- 
tion having been performed : — an apt type of the whole 
and living man, who, when the great object of his crea- 



70 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tion is performed on earth, himself passes away in death; 
and happy indeed would he be, were that work so fully, 
so well, and so invariably performed. These little 
wrecked, these bursted boats, have been collected, and 
ascertained to be made invariably and almost wholly of 
two materials — phosphorus and lime, which also are con- 
stituents of the brain itself. This phosphorus and lime 
are supplied by what we eat and drink. If we do not 
eat and drink enough, or if what we do eat and drink 
has not enough of these constituents ; or if, again, it is 
not perfectly digested, then there is not enough of these 
constituents to make the necessary boats to freight the 
living particles to their destination ; hence, the man 
wastes away to skin and bone, and dies — not because 
he does not eat, but because what he does eat, does him 
little or no good. Especially thus is it in Consumption ; 
a man dies of inanition, or, as physicians say, an error 
of nutrition. 

Consumptive people die for want of strength, want 
of flesh, want of nutriment ; not for want of lung sub- 
stance, as is almost universally supposed. They die, in 
almost every instance, long before the lungs are con- 
sumed, so far as to be incapable of sustaining life. 
Numerous cases are given where men have lived for 
years with an amount of available lungs not equal to 
one-fourth of the whole. They were there, perhaps, but 
not available, not efficient. The majority of persons 
who die of Consumption, perish before a third of the 
lungs have consumed away, in consequence of loose 
bowels, torpid liver, indigestion, night sweats, want of 
sleep, clogging up of the lungs with matter and mucus 
by the daily use of cough drops, balsams, tonics, or other 
destructive agents. These symptoms need but be con- 



DISCOVERT OF OXYGEN. 71 

trolled to protect life, indefinitely ; that is to say, if the 
symptoms were prescribed for according to general prin- 
ciples, and properly nursed, letting the consumptive 
portion of the disease alone, it would sometimes cure 
itself, or at least allow the patient to live in reasonable 
comfort for a number of years. 

The reader may almost imagine that he has a clue to 
the cure of Consumption, if he could but give the patient 
phosphorus and lime, or phosphate of lime — that is, burnt 
bones — eight or ten grains, with the first mouthful of 
each meal, so as to let it be mixed with the food and 
carried with it into the blood ; from twenty to thirty 
grains being daily needed in health. The scientific world 
were charmed less than a hundred years ago by the dis- 
covery of oxygen. It was supposed that as oxygen was 
the constituent of the air which imparted vitality to the 
blood, gave it its purity, its activity, and filled the man 
with life and animation, nothing was needed but to take 
enough oxygen to purify the blood, and thus strike at 
the root of all disease. Accordingly, the oxygen was 
prepared and administered. The recipient revived, was 
transported, was fleet as the antelope, could run with the 
wind. He smiled, he fairly yelled for joy, and — died, 
laughing, or from over excitement. The machine worked 
too fast ; it could not be stopped, and pure oxygen has 
never been taken for health since. 

Thus it will, perhaps, always be with artificial reme- 
dies ; they cannot equal those which are prepared in 
Nature's manufactory. The phosphate of lime, in 
order to answer the purposes of nature, must be elim- 
inated from the healthful digestion of substantial food 
in the stomach, and the only natural and efficient means 
of obtaining the requisite amount is, to regulate the 



72 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

* 

great glands of the system in such, a manner as to 
cause the perfect digestion of a sufficient amount of suit- 
able food, and this is within the power of the scientific 
practitioner, in the great majority of cases of consump- 
tion, when attempted in its early stages ; but for con- 
firmed Consumption — that is, when the lungs have be- 
gun to decay away, it is criminal to hold out any pro- 
mises of cure, or even of essential relief, in any given 
instance. 

In illustration of the subject of a perfect digestion in 
its relation to food and fresh air, the following incidents 
are here given : 

"suicide by starvation. 

" A very curious example of suicide by means of 
starvation occurred some years ago in Corsica. During 
the elections, the Sieur V. rushed into the electoral college 
armed with a dagger, which he plunged into the breast 
of a man who had done him some injury. The man fell 
dead at his feet. The assassination was committed in 
the full light of day, and in the presence of an assembled 
multitude. 

" V. was tried, found guilty, and condemned to death. 
His high spirit and resolute character were well known, 
and it was suspected that he would seek, by a volun- 
tary death, to evade the disgrace of perishing on the 
scaffold. He was therefore vigilantly watched, and 
every precaution taken to deprive him of the means of 
putting an end to his existence. 

" He resolved to starve himself to death during the 
interval which elapsed between the sentence of the 
Court or Assizes, and the reply which the Court of 
Cassation would make to the appeal he had addressed 
to it. 



SUICIDE BY STARVATION. 73 

" He had succeeded in concealing from the observa- 
tion of his jailers a portion of the food with which they 
supplied him, so as to make it be believed that he re- 
gularly took his meals. After three days' abstinence, the 
pangs of hunger became insupportable. It then sudden- 
ly occurred to him that he might the more speedily ac- 
complish the object he had in view by eating with avidity. 
He thought that the state of exhaustion to which he was 
reduced would unfit him to bear the sudden excess, 
and that it would inevitably occasion the death he so 
ardently desired. He accordingly sat down to the food 
which he had laid aside, and ate voraciously, choosing in 
preference, the heaviest things. The consequence was 
that he was seized with a violent fit of indigestion, of 
which, contrary to his expectation, the prison doctor 
speedily cured him. 

"He then resumed his fatal design. He suffered 
again what he had undergone before. The torture was 
almost beyond his strength. His thirst, too, was in- 
tolerable. It overcame his resolution. He extended 
his hand towards the jug of water which had been 
placed in his cell. He drank with avidity, and, to use 
his own expression, was restored to life. 

" To avoid yielding again to a similar temptation, he 
daily took the precaution of overturning the jug of 
water which was brought to him. Lest he should be 
induced to raise it to his lips, he threw it down with his 
foot, not venturing to touch it with his hand. In this 
manner he passed eighteen days. 

" Every day, at different intervals, he noted down in 

his album, a minute account of his sensations. He 

counted the beatings of his pulse, and marked their 

number from hour to hour, measuring with the most 

4 



74 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

scrupulous attention, the gradual wasting of bis strength. 
In several parts of his melancholy memento, he declares 
that he felt it harder to bear the agonies of thirst than 
those of hunger. He confesses that he was frequently 
on the point of yielding to the desire of drinking. He 
nevertheless resisted. 

" He was surprised to find his sight become more and 
more clear, strong and accurate; it appeared to him 
like the development of a new sense. The nearer he 
approached his ]atter moments, the more his power of 
vision seemed to increase. On this subject he thus ex- 
presses himself: ' It appears as though I could see 
through the thickest walls.' His sense of feeling like- 
wise attained the most exquisite sensibility. His hear- 
ing and smelling improved in a similar degree. His 
album contains many curious statements on these sub- 
jects. 

"TheSieurV. had devoted some attention to anatomy 
and physiology ; and he attributes the increased acute- 
ness of his senses to the way in which the intestinal irri 
tation acted on the nervous system. 

" His ideas, he says, were numerous and clear, and 
very different from anything he had experienced in 
moments of excitement or intoxication. They were all 
directed to logical investigation, whether he applied 
them to an analysis of material objects, or to philosophic 
contemplation. He also felt himself inspired with a 
singular aptitude for mathematical calculation, a study 
for which he had previously felt very little inclination. 
In short, he declares that he never derived so much gra- 
tification from his intellectual condition, as throughout 
the whole duration of his physical torture. 

" He made notes in his album to the last moments of 



SUICIDE BY STARVATION. 75 

his existence. He had scarcely strength sufficient to 
hold the pencil with which he traced the following 
words : c My pulse has nearly ceased to beat — but my 
brain retains a degree of vigor which, in my sad con- 
dition, is the greatest solace Providence could bestow on 
me. It is impossible that I can live out this day. My 
jailers watch me, and fancy they have adopted every 
precaution. They little think that I have outwitted 
them. Death annuls the sentence which has been pro- 
nounced on me. In another hour, perhaps, they will 
find nothing but a cold corpse.' 

"V. expired as he foretold. His album has been 
carefully preserved. It is a record replete with interest 
to medical professors. The slow torture, endured with 
so much courage, and described with such remarkable 
clearness, renders it one of the most curious documents 
in the annals of medical science." 

Illustrating the same point, a gentleman, Mr. I. F. H. 
stated to the Author that he was once under medical 
treatment for some affection of the eyes, requiring a 
very scanty diet. His general health was excellent, but 
he was always hungry; yet so far from having any sense 
of debility, he had, when he went out into the street, an 
elasticity of mind and body, an instinctive desire of lo- 
comotion, which caused him to feel as if he could almost 
fly, and a joyousness of spirit, which was perfectly de- 
lightful. 

These two cases strikingly show, that with a smaller 
amount of food, and consequently of blood, men are 
cheerful in mind and active in body ; J3F" therefore, a 
small amount of food, perfectly digested, gives more 
health and strength than a larger, if not so. It is better, 



76 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

incomparably better, to feel a little hungry all the time, 
than to feel full, oppressed, heavy, with over eating. 

Every patient of mine, who ever expects to get well, 
must keep this fact constantly and practically in view. 
It is too much the custom to measure one's health by 
the avidity of his appetite and his increase in flesh, as if 
he were a pig ; forgetting that a voracious appetite and 
fat, are always indications of a diseased body. A uni- 
form, moderate appetite, is the attendant of good health. 
A racer's ribs must be seen before he is fit for the track, 
because then he is most capable of endurance. 

The next incident shows, that with a moderate amount 
of substantial food and cold water, such being prisoner's 
fare, men may live for many years, with but little ex- 
ercise, in the dark vaults of a prison, breathing all the 
time an atmosphere not very pure, as may be readily 
supposed. And it is earnestly hoped that the incidents 
narrated will leave upon the mind of every reader a life- 
long impression as to the value, both to the sick and the 
healthy, of living habitually on a moderate allowance of 
plain, substantial, nourishing food. It may be well to 
recollect here, that it is not the quality, so much as the 
quantity of food, which lays the foundation every year 
of innumerable diseases and deaths. Let it be remem- 
bered, also, that men need a variety of food ; living on 
only one kind for a length of time will always under- 
mine a healthy constitution. Milk only, has all the ele- 
ments of life ; and any other one kind of aliment, used 
indefinitely as to time, will as certainly deteriorate the 
constitution, bodily and mental, as anything that is 
planted will deteriorate, if kept for successive years in 
the same field, unrenewed. The popular notion that 
one or two kinds of food at a meal is most whole- 



COUNT CONFALIONERI. 77 

some, is wholly untrue. On the contrary, several kinds 
at a meal, other things being equal, are more conducive 
to our well-being. Quantity, and not quality, is the 
measure of health. 

COUNT CONFALIONERI 

wrote from the great jail of Vienna as follows : — . 

" I am an old man now, yet by fifteen years, my soul 
is younger than my body : fifteen years I existed, for I 
did not live. It was not life in the self-same dungeon, 
ten feet square. During six years I had a companion ; 
nine years I was alone. I never could rightly distin- 
guish the face of him who shared my captivity in the 
eternal twilight of our cell. 

" The first year we talked incessantly together. We 
related our past lives, our joys forever gone, over and 
over again. 

" The next year we communicated to each other our 
ideas on all subjects. 

" The third year we had no ideas to communicate ; 
we were beginning to lose the power of reflection. 

" The fourth, at intervals of a month or so we would 
open our lips, to ask each other if it were indeed pos- 
sible that the world was as gay and bustling as it was 
when we formed a portion of mankind. 

" The fifth year we were silent. 

" The sixth, he was taken away, I never knew where, 
to execution or to liberty. But I was glad when he was 
gone : even solitude was better than that pale and va- 
cant face. After that, I was alone. 

" Only one event broke in upon my nine years' 
vacancy. One day, it must have been a year or two 
after my companion left me, my dungeon door was 



78 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

opened, and a voice, I knew not whence, uttered these 
words : ' By order of his Imperial Majesty, I intimate 
to you, that one year ago, your wife died.' Then the 
door was shut. 1 heard no more. They had but flung 
this great agony in upon me, and left me alone with it 
again." 

Having shown the bearing which food has on health. 
I desire to make some statements as to the value of air 
and exercise in the same direction. These will be given 
succinctly, in the hope that the intelligent reader will 
study them and apply them at length, especially if he 
should come to me for medical advice. My habit is 
not merely to cure, when I can, the patient who comes to 
me, but to induce him to study and understand his own 
case and constitution, so that by the -application of 
general principles, he may afterwards be able to regulate 
his health under all ordinary circumstances, as far as it 
can be done by diet, air, exercise, and regularity of per- 
sonal habits : but never venturing to take an atom of 
medicine, however simple, except by the special advice 
of an educated, experienced physician. 

IMPORTANCE OF PURE AIR TO HEALTH. 

Men are reported to have lived three weeks without 
food, but without air we cannot live three minutes. The 
lungs of a full-sized man weigh about three pounds, and 
will hold twelve pints of air ; but nine pints are as 
much as can be inhaled at one full breath, there being 
always a residuum in the lungs ; that is, all the air that 
is within them can never be expelled at once. In com- 
mon, easy breathing, in repose, we inhale one pint. 
Singers take in from five to seven pints at a single 
breath. We breathe, in health, about eighteen times in 



IMPORTANCE OF PURE AIR TO HEALTH. 79 

a minute ; that is, take in eighteen pints of air in one 
minute of time, or three thousand gallons in twenty-four 
hours. 

On the other hand, the quantity of blood in a common- 
sized man is twenty pints. The heart beats seventy 
times in a minute, and at each beat throws out four 
tablespoons ; that is, two ounces of blood ; therefore, 
there passes through the heart, and from it through the 
lungs, an amount of blood every twenty-four hours equal 
to two thousand gallons. 

The process of human life, therefore, consists in there 
meeting together in the lungs, every twenty-four hours, 
two thousand gallons of blood and three thousand gal- 
lons of air. Good health requires this absolutely, and 
cannot be long maintained with less than the full amount 
of each ; for such are the proportions which nature has 
ordained and called for. It is easy, therefore, to perceive, 
that in proportion as a person is consuming daily less 
air than is natural, in such proportion is a decline of 
health rapid and inevitable. To know, then, how much 
air a man does habitually consume, is second in import- 
ance, in determining his true condition, to no other fact ; 
is a symptom to be noticed and measured in every case 
of disease, most especially of disease of the lungs ; and 
no man can safely say that the lungs are sound and well 
and working fully, until he has ascertained, by actual 
mathematical measurement, their capacity of action at 
the time of the examination. All else is indefinite, dark 
conjecture. And I claim for myself to have been the 
first physician in America who made the measured 
amount of consumed air, an essential element, as to symp- 
toms, in ascertaining the condition of persons in refer- 
ence to the existence of consumptive disease, and made 



80 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

a publication thereupon. The great and most satisfac- 
tory deduction in all cases being this, that if, upon a 
proper examination, the lungs of any given person are 
working freely and fully, according to the figures of the 
case, one thing is incontrovertibly true, demonstrably 
true, that whatever thousand other things may be the 
matter with the man, he certainly has nothing like Con- 
sumption. And Consumption being considered a fatal 
disease by most persons, there is quite a willingness to 
have anything else : and the announcement and certainty 
that it is not Consumption, brings with it a satisfaction, 
a gladness of relief, which cannot be measured. 

On the other hand, just in proportion as a person is 
habitually breathing less air than he ought to do, in such 
proportion he is falling fast and surely into a fatal disease. 
This tendency to Consumption can be usually discovered 
years in advance of the actual occurrence of the disease ; 
and were it possible to induce the parents of children 
over fifteen years of age, to have an investigation as to this 
point in the first place, and then to take active, prompt, 
and persevering measures to correct the difficulty, and 
not one case in a thousand need fail of such correction, 
with but little, if any medicine, in most instances none, 
many children would be prevented from falling into a 
premature grave, and would live to be a happiness and 
honor to the old age of those who bore them. Persons 
who live in cities and large towns think, and wisely so, 
that the teeth of their children should be carefully exam- 
ined by a good dentist once or twice a year ; but to have 
the condition of the lungs examined, and, if need be, rec- 
tified, few, if any, ever think of such a thing. And yet, as 
to practical importance, it immeasurably exceeds that 
of attention to the teeth. The latter are cared for as a 



IMPORTANCE OF PURE AIR TO HEALTH. 81 

matter of personal appearance and comfort ; the lungs 
are a matter of life and death. We can live and be happy 
without a tooth, but without lungs we must prematurely 
die. Were the condition of the lungs, after such an 
examination as I have suggested, a matter of opinion or 
conjecture only, I would not propose it ; but it is not : 
it is a thing of numerical measurement, of mathematical 
demonstration, as to the one point, Do the lungs work 
freely and fully or not ? If they do not, declining health 
is inevitable, sooner or later, unless their activity is 
restored, which, however, can be done in the vast majo- 
rity of cases. 

The actual practical results correspond with the above 
statements. A man came into my office who had lost 
half his measurement. I told his brother that although 
appearances were against the opinion I was going to 
give, and he had walked to my office from his own apart- 
ments, several squares off, without much fatigue, yet 
I felt bound to say he could not survive three weeks. 
Within that time he died with unmistakable consump- 
tion. 

Another gentleman came to me from North Alabama, 
attended by his brother, who was extremely anxious to 
know his condition, but desired me to withhold my opin- 
ion from the invalid. He told me his brother had been 
improving of late, was greatly better, and stronger, and 
livelier than he had been for some time past. On exam- 
ination, I found he had lost two-fifths of his measure- 
ment • and felt compelled to say, that he could not under 
any conceivable circumstances live six weeks, and that 
he ought to be taken to his family without the least pos- 
sible delay. He died in about five weeks from that 
time. These are given as examples from many others. 
4* 



82 BRONCHITIS AXD KINDRED DISEASES. 

In short, the use which I make of these things is simply 
this. — if a man is deficient in measurement, and under 
my treatment, lessens that deficiency every week, I 
encourage him to persevere, for he is evidently and sub- 
stantially improving. If, unfortunately, on the other 
hand, the deficiency increases every week, notwithstand- 
ing all I can do, I send him home, because he is declining 
every day, and must inevitably die; and I desire no 
man's money, unless I believe that I am doing him a 
commensurate good. A highly respectable physician of 
extensive practice, from Kentucky, called to see me. I 
explained every thing to him as fully as I could, and on 
submitting himself to examination, he said at once, in 'a 
manner and tone so despairing I can never forget it, " I see 
it — it is of no use to try anything ; I may as well go home 
and die." He started on his return the next morning, 
and died not long after his arrival. "With facts like these 
constantly occurring, I look upon this new diagnostic 
with increasing admiration. 

A deficiency of measurement arises from two principal 
causes. 

An actual loss of the substance of the lungs ; or an 
infiltration, or inaction or solidification. Auscultation 
must decide which of these it is. A young gentleman 
came to me from one of the western counties of Mis- 
souri. He was sent by an elder brother who had been 
cured by me of cough, pam in the breast, &c, several 
years before. His principal symptoms were distressing 
pains about the breast, no appetite, sleepless nights, and 
such an inveterate spitting of blood, that walking two or 
three squares would cause him to bring it up by mouth- 
fills. His deficiency of lung measurement was nearly 
one-third ;■ but auscultation showed that it came from the 



VALUE OF LUNG MEASUREMENT. 83 

air cells of the lungs being filled up with collections that 
did not properly belong there. His brother was greatly 
alarmed : his family physician said it was useless for him 
to come to me, as it was a clear case of tubercular con- 
sumption. I at once informed his brother that I thought 
he could be cured, that so far from its being a dangerous 
case, he could safely and profitably leave for home in a 
week. I gave him some vegetable pills, administered 
quinine and elixir of vitriol three time a day, and 
required him to walk about the city from morning till 
night ; never carrying his exercise to fatigue or exhaus- 
tion. Within a week he ceased to spit blood altogether ; 
his appetite returned, his sleep became sound, unbroken 
and refreshing; his bowels regular daily, without medi- 
cine for that purpose ; whereas, before, they had kept 
obstinately costive ; his strength returned so that he could 
walk for hours at a time without special fatigue ; and on 
the eighth day when he left, his lungs measured to the 
full healthy standard. With results like these, I should 
be excused if I speak enthusiastically in these pages. 
These are facts, and I consider them triumphant, and in 
recording them, enjoy the pleasurable feeling which a 
man possesses when he knows he is right, and sees that 
the multitude, now incredulous, will sooner or later agree 
with him.. 

In confirmation of my views in relation to the impor- 
tance and value of this new method of determining the 
actual condition of the lungs, what proportion of them 
are in healthful and efficient operation, I will give the 
testimony of two of the most respectable and extensive 
periodicals in the world. The London Lancet, one of 
whose Editors has been for some years a member of the 
British Parliament, and who is honored every session by 



84 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

appointments on committees, among the most impor- 
tant to a nation's interest, says : " This mode of distin- 
guishing Consumption at an earlier period than by any 
other means, has been actually proved." 

The British and Foreign Medical Review, while edited 
by Dr. Forbes ; and which has been conducted with 
such signal ability for the last quarter of a century, that 
it is now circulated in every part of the globe, says : 
"We have no hesitation in recording our deliberate 
opinion that this is one of the most valuable contribu- 
tions to physiological science that we have met with for 
some time." 

I consider the stethescope and percussion as mere 
toys, which do well enough to excite the wonder of the 
credulous. I must confess they never gave me any sat- 
isfaction, I never could learn anything by them. It may 
be different with others, but I believe that the ear laid 
upon the patient's breast, with nothing intervening but 
a single thickness of the inner garment, stretched withr 
out a wrinkle and laid smoothly on the skin, is immea 
surably preferable to any stethescope ever invented, it 
tells us more certainly and in louder tones by far, all 
that stethescopy and percussion pretend to, and in a 
more simple and natural manner. In all cases I use the 
ear directly, to ascertain the more prominent sounds, 
but the stethescope and percussion never ; nor do I 
place any dependence on the eye, nor the moving of 
the extended hand over the chest. In forming an 
opinion in a case of Consumption, the main foundations 
are, 

1st, The condition of the pulse. 

2d, The degree of the emaciation. 

3rd, The measurement of the lungs. 



VALUE OF LUNG MEASUREMENT. 85 

4th, The sounds given to the ear when it is laid on the 
patient's breast, while standing ; or back when stooping 
forward ; a single thickness only intervening of the inner 
garment stretched smoothly over the skin. 

Cough, spitting of blood, and expectoration, I consider, 
of themselves, of little consequence, for the simple 
reason that they cannot be relied upon, until too late a 
stage in the progress of the disease. No one pretends 
that either of them has an invariable cause, an invariable 
effect, or an invariable tendency, therefore, by them- 
selves, they are symptoms of little value. In reference 
to this new method of determining the early existence 
of Consumptive disease, the London Lancet says : " It 
is proven by actual experiment, that a man's lungs, 
found after death to have been tuberculated to the extent 
of one cubic inch, had been by that amount of tubercu- 
lization controlled in their action to the extent of more 
than forty inches." It is very apparent then, that this 
mode of examination detects the presence of tubercles 
in their earliest formation, which is in fact the only time 
to attack Consumption successfully and surely ; and 
when attempted at the early stage, before it is at all 
fixed in the system, the certainty of success in warding 
off the danger, of curing the disease, is as great as that 
of warding off the cholera or perfectly curing it, if at- 
tempted at the first appearance of the premonitory symp- 
toms ; and as when cholera is present in a community, 
every person who has three or more passages from the 
bowels within twenty- four hours, ought to be considered 
as attacked with cholera, and should act accordingly, so 
when a man has tubercles in his lungs to the extent of 
impairing their functions for a dozen inches, that is, when 
his lungs do not (with other symptoms) hold enough air 



86 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

by a dozen inches, he should consider himself as having 
Consumption, and should act accordingly and with the 
assurance that in four cases out of five, human life would 
be saved by it. And as thousands have died with 
cholera by hoping they did not have it, or denying they 
had it, although warned by the usual symptoms of its 
commencement, until its existence was so apparent to 
the commonest observer as to render a hope of cure im- 
possible, so precisely is it in Consumption : people will 
not take warning by the symptoms in their own persons, 
which have in thousands of others terminated in certain 
death, but go on day after day without reason, hoping 
that the symptoms will go away of themselves, and stead- 
ily deny that they have the disease, until remedy is 
hopeless. If, then, a man should take the alarm, as soon 
as he perceives that he is habitually consuming a less 
amount of air at each act of breathing than he ought to 
do, whatever may be the cause of it, so on the other 
hand, if he finds, on examination, that his lungs contain 
fully as much air as the system requires, then is it be- 
yond all question, that all his lungs are within him, in 
healthful action, and therefore must be perfectly free 
from Consumptive disease ; that whatever else may be 
the matter with him, it most evidently is not Consump- 
tion. 

THE MANNER OF DYING. 

It has been elsewhere remarked, 'that when persons 
die of consumption, it is not from the amount of lung 
substance actually destroyed, because many persons 
have been known to live for years with an amount of 
lungs only equal to one-third of the whole, while from 
actual inspection of the lungs after death from phthisis, 
seldom as much as one-third of them have decayed 



MANNER OF DYING. 87 

away. The more immediate cause of death therefore in 
consumption is inanition, wasting away, inability of the 
glandular system to derive sufficient nourishment from 
the food eaten, or from the want of a more direct con- 
trol over the disorder of some more critical part or 
function of the system. Every thing, every part wastes 
away but the brain, that maintains its integrity, with 
but few exceptions to the very last effort of expiring 
nature. Hence, however much the consumptive may 
suffer in other respects, he has at least this satisfaction, 
that in the last earthly conflict, he will have his senses 
fully about him. When persons die from other dis- 
eases, the senses die one by one, the sight first, then the 
smell, the taste, the speech, the touch, and last of all the 
hearing, hence no whisper should ever be uttered in the 
chamber of death, except it is intended for the dying, 
for the softest voice in the most distant corner is con- 
veyed in loudening tones to the departing, and for an 
equally good reason, should all loud words be avoided, 
because they grate painfully on the increased sensibility 
of the ear. While in other diseases, the senses die one 
by one, in consumption they all pass away together, 
(except the sight, which goes first) and at the last mo- 
ment. The reason that consumptives maintain their 
senses to the last is, that the brain is the last part of the 
human body that feels the effect of inanition, of starva- 
tion. The incident given on page 72, illustrates this 
fact ; there are, it is true, circumstances which may 
modify this explanation, as there are but few statements 
which apply universally. 

In the following list of the dying words of the distin- 
guished dead, are confirmations of the general principle 
laid down. 



88 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

" Head of the army." — Napoleon. 

" L'Isle D'elbe, Napoleon." — Josephine. 

" I must sleep now." — Byron. 

" It matters little how the head lieth." — Sir W. Raleigh. 

" Kiss me, Hardy." — Lord Nelson. 

" Don't give up the ship." — Lawrence. 

"I'm shot if I don't believe I'm dying." — Chancellor 
Thurlow. 

" Is this your fidelity V — Nero. 

" Clasp my hand, my dear friend, I die." — Alfieri. 

" Give Dayroles a chair." — Lord Chesterfield. 

" God preserve the Emperor." — Hayden. 

" The artery ceases to beat." — Holler. 

" Let the light enter." — Goethe. 

" All my possessions for a moment of time." — Queen 
Elizabeth. 

" What ! is there no bribing death." — Cardinal Beau- 
fort. 

" I have loved God, my father, and liberty." — Madam 
De Stael. 

" Be serious." — Grotius. 

" Into thy hands, O Lord." — Tasso. 

" It is small, very small indeed," (clasping her neck). 
— Anne Boleyn. 

" I pray you, see me safe up, and for my coming 
down, let me shift for myself," (ascending the scaffold). 
— Sir Thomas Moore. 

" Don't let that awkward squad fire over my grave." 
— Robt. Burns. 

" I feel as if I were to be myself again." — Sir Walter 
Scott. 

" I resign my soul to God, and my daughter to my 
coun try . ' ' — Jefferson. 



DYING WORDS. 89 

" Am I so far gone ?" — Niebuhr. 

"There is not a drop of blood on my hands." — Fred. 
V., of Denmark. 

" Let me hear once more those notes which have so 
long been my solacementand delight." — Mozart. 

"A dying man can do nothing easy." — Franklin. 

" Let not poor Nelly starve." — Charles II. 

" Let me die to the sounds of delicious music." — 
Mirabeau. 

"Remorse." — John Randolph of Roanoke. 

" The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice." — Rev. Dr. 
E. Cornelius. 

" Doctor, I think I am getting weaker, feel my pulse." 
John Newland Maffit. 

"Adieu my beloved Cuba; adieu my brethren," (the 
instant before his execution.) — General Lopez. 

" Sister, I am weary, let us go home." — Neander. 

" But even the log on the Delaware, has its care 
taker." — Dr. Joseph Parish. 

"How violent is this disorder, how very extraordi- 
nary it is !" — Stephen Girard. 

"I forgive the authors of my death, and I pray that 
my blood may not fall upon France," (the moment be- 
fore he was guillotined). — Louis X VI. 

" I'm most gone." — Rev. Andrew Todd. 

"It is well." — Washington. 

" Independence for ever." — Adams. 

" It is the last of earth." — J. Q. Adams. 

" I wish you to understand the true principles of the 
government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing 
more." — Harrison. 

" I have endeavored to do my duty." — Gen. Taylor. 

"Doctor, I am dying very hard, it seems as though 
I shall never get through with it." — Vice Pres. King. 

"I could wish this tragic scene were over." — Quinn, 
the Actor. 

'God bless you all." — Dr. Chalmers. 

" I still live." — Daniel Webster. 

" My son, don't leave me, I'm going soon." — Henry 
Clay. 



90 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



COUGH 

is an instinctive spasmodic effort of the lungs to expel 
the air which they contain, through their " pipes," or their 
bronchial branches, for the purpose of carrying before 
it, -and out through the mouth, any thing which is in the 
lungs or air passages, and which ought not to be there. 
It is a law of the animal economy to relieve itself; not 
the least of all the wonderful adaptations which Infinite 
wisdom and benevolence has ordained for our preserva- 
tion. The eye begins to water and wash out with tears 
the particle of dust or sand which offends it. The 
stomach revolts instantaneously at the presence of poi- 
son, and ejects it. The tongue repels any thing placed 
upon it, that is not adapted to the well being of the 
system. And if the lungs were less vigilant, accumula- 
tions would take place from time to time, and they 
would eventually fill with solid substances, air could not 
enter, and we would die. Cough is excited by putting a 
straw or feather or other offending substance in the ear, 
thus if a person is asleep, and an insect were crawling in, 
the cough would arouse him. 

Cough is the common attendant of Consumptive dis- 
ease. Although it does not imply that because a man 
has a cough he must necessarily have Consumption, yet 
no one can have Consumption without a cough sooner or 
later, with extremely rare exceptions. 

This cough is an effort of nature to remove from the 
lungs that which ought not to be there, that which is 
causing mischief, just as vomiting is an effort of nature 
to remove from the stomach that which, if permitted to 
remain longer would cause increasing mischief. There- 
fore to take medicine to repress cough is to counteract 



ILLUSTRATION. 91 

nature, and if persevered in will always hasten death. 
Hence opium, paregoric, laudanum, morphine, or any- 
other anodyne known to men, when taken day after day, 
will inevitably and under all circumstances make death 
the more certain in all forms of Consumptive disease, un- 
less there is a physician in attendance to counteract their 
mischievous effects. And as every intelligent druggist 
knows that of all the patent or secret medicines sold for 
coughs, colds and consumption, there is not a single one 
that does not contain an opiate or anodyne in some 
shape or form, so they all fight against nature, derange 
her machinery, lock up the glands of the system, disor- 
der the secretories, and therefore must prepare the way 
for a more certain decline and death. It is therefore 
suicidal to use them. 

ILLUSTRATION. 

An error which many persons fall into, in the treat- 
ment of Consumption, is in meddling with the cough. 
In standard medical works, cases are often given, to 
show that a troublesome and long continued cough may 
exist, and nothing be the matter with the lungs. In all 
such cases, all remedies addressed to the lungs must fail ; 
and he who in a real case of Consumption, at once sets 
about to destroy the cough, destroys the patient. Many 
a person says, " If I could only get clear of this trou- 
blesome cough, I would be as well as I ever was in my 
life." Another will say, "there is nothing the matter 
with me but a little cough." A third will come in and 
say, "Doctor, I am not sick, and I don't want to go 
through a course of medicine, I only want you to 
give me something to cure this cough. I have a good 
appetite, and sleep sound when I do get to sleep ; bowels 



92 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

regular, and I feel hearty and strong, but this cough is 
always pestering me ; just give me some drops to take 
it away, and I will be as well as ever I was in my life." 
A case : — I was once called to see a very estimable lady, 
whose worst symptom was a distressing cough ; she 
complained of pains about the breast and neck, and of 
several other things of minor importance. I told her 
the cough was deep seated, that it would require all her 
efforts to get rid of it, and that this would have to be 
done in a very gradual manner ; that I would prevent 
her coughing at night, but that the cough during the day 
must be borne with, as it aided in bringing away the 
constant accumulations, otherwise her lungs would very 
soon fill up, and she would suffocate. She, however, be- 
came impatient, and being remiss in following some of 
my directions, I ceased to prescribe for her, after seeing 
her four or five times. Some one was called in who had 
" cured several cases worse than she was, in a few days." 
His medicine seemed to have a good effect ; in a day or 
two the cough sensibly declined, and finally ceased alto- 
gether, and with it the expectoration, and about the same 
time she died. And it is thus that thousands are de- 
stroyed every year ; they purchase various syrups and 
cough remedies, and because they moderate the cough, 
they think they are getting well ; losing sight of the 
fact, that they are getting no stronger, or losing flesh, or 
that the dose has to be increased ; and as soon as they 
cease taking it, the cough returns, proving conclusively 
that it is only a palliative, while the main disease is 
working its way deeper into the system. 



MORNING COUGH. 93 



MORNING COUGH. 

It is not as extensively known as it ought to be, that, 
in the large majority of cases, Consumption begins with 
a slight cough in the morning on getting up. After a 
while it is perceived at night on going to bed ; next, 
there is an occasional " coughing spell " sometime during 
the night; by this time there is a difficulty of breathing 
on any slightly unusual exercise, or in going up stairs, or 
ascending a hill ; and the patient expresses himself, with 
some surprise, " Why, it never used to tire me so !" 
Next, there is occasional coughing after a full meal, 
and sometimes " casting up." Even before this, persons 
begin to feel weak, while there is an almost impercepti- 
ble thinning in flesh, and a gradual diminution in weight 
— harassing cough, loose bowels, difficult breathing, 
swollen extremities, daily fever, and a miserable death ! 
Miserable, because it is tedious, painful, and inevitable. 
How much it is to be wished that the symptoms of this 
hateful disease were more generally studied and under- 
stood, that it might be detected in its first insidious ap- 
proaches, and application be made at once for its arrest 
and total eradication ; for certain it is that, in very many 
instances, it could be accomplished. 

It must be remembered, that cough is not an invaria- 
ble attendant of Consumption of the lungs, inasmuch as 
persons have died, and on examination, a large portion 
of the lungs were found to have decayed away, and yet 
these same persons were never noticed to have had a 
cough, or observed it themselves, until within a few days 
of death. But such instances are rare, and a habitual 
cough on getting up, and on going to bed, may be safely 
set down as indicating Consumption begun. Cough as 



94 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

just stated, is originally a curative process, the means 
which nature uses to rid the body of that which offends, 
of that which is foreign to the system, and ought to be 
out of it ; hence the folly of using medicines to keep 
down the cough, as all cough remedies sold in the shops 
merely do, without taking means at the same time for 
removing that state of things which makes cough neces- 
sary, that is, the congestions, the cloggings up, which oc- 
casion the exudations previously described. 

SPITTING BLOOD. 

All that the Author aims to do in these pages, is to 
speak his own sentiments, as formed from what he has 
seen ; and it is perhaps the best method of preventing 
the perpetuation of error. Authority has most unfortu- 
nately too often rolled back the tide of true progress for 
ages. The Author has observed, that spitting of blood, 
in any manner or form, does, in an overwhelming majo- 
rity of cases, when neglected, terminate, sooner or later, 
in confirmed Consumption ; hence the instinctive shudder 
or appallingness which dashes over a person, the first in- 
stant of his noticing that he has spit blood ; in vain may 
the physician in his kindness and sympathy, talk about 
its coining from the throat, or the gums, or from con- 
gestion, it is but too often, as intelligent practitioners 
know full well, not a cause of Consumption, not a symp- 
tom of threatened Consumption, it is an effect of Con- 
sumption begun, of progressive lung decay : not always 
so, most assuredly, but it is so, in more than a large 
majority of cases, except in women. 

Some persons spit a little at a time, the expectoration 
is merely tinged with red, it ceases, and after various 
intervals, returns. 



SPITTING BLOOD. 95 

Others bleed a pint or more at a time, coming on often 
without any appreciable or adequate cause, ceasing spon 
taneously almost, and the person fancies himself as well 
as he ever was in his life, and in a few months the fact 
of the haemorrhage has been forgotten ; but sooner or 
later, another attack, and another, until a fatal issue. 
As a general rule, a man does not have more than 
three or four large haemorrhages before death steps in. 
In many cases, there is not the slightest cough noticed, 
until some months after the first or even second expec- 
toration of blood ; it is the absence of cough that en- 
courages the patient to believe that it cannot possibly 
be Consumption. Consumptives who expectorate blood 
have usually less cough at first than those who have 
never had a haemorrhage, it is because the haemorrhage 
relieves the clogging up, which is the immediate cause 
of tubercles, which are again the more immediate cause 
of cough, hence small and frequent heemoptoes retard 
phthisis. 

In women, spitting blood is not a specially dangerous 
symptom, unless attended with one or two other symp- 
toms, which the watchful physician will readily detect. 
Sometimes haemorrhage from the lungs may occur in 
men without involving the existence of consumptive 
disease. See the case mentioned on page 82. 

In this and similar cases, it is of the highest import- 
ance to determine the nature of the haemorrhage, for 
upon that depends the subsequent treatment and result. 
Spitting of blood therefore, as it is so generally an indi- 
cation that a fatal disease is in progress in the system, 
should decide the person to call in a physician at once, 
for it is a symptom which should excite alarm in all cases 
whatever. 



96 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



EXPECTORATION. 

Its sinking in water is, of itself no sign of Consump- 
tion, as all yellow expectoration will sink in time. Let 
the reader remember to spit out every atom possible, 
and never swallow it ; better out than in ; otherwise it 
soon fills up the lungs, and there being no room for air, 
suffocation soon takes place, or being re-absorbed into 
the blood, it poisons and putrifies the very fountain of 
life. Usually, the expectoration of Consumption is of a 
heavy, yellow nature, that of Bronchitis is varied, yel- 
lowish, dark, greenish, stringy, tenacious. 

But it is a fact not to be disputed, that up to this time 
the expectoration gives no reliable indication as to the 
existence of Consumption, until the patient is in the 
very last stages of the disease, therefore a more definite 
description of it has not been given, especially as by it 
alone, the physician forms no opinion. But a daily 
expectoration, of any amount, of & yellowish nature, over 
a month or two, should excite attention, for it is an 
ominous symptom. 

CHILLS AND FEVERS. 

This is a frequent symptom in the graver forms and 
advanced stages of Consumption, and very many per- 
sons are hurried to the grave by treating them as a kind 
of Fever and Ague ; the already weak system is shocked 
by immense doses of quinine and other powerful tonics, 
which, while they sometimes only remove the chill for a 
day or two, very greatly aggravate the cough, and soon 
the symptom returns with greater violence, in a weaker 
body. Very many instances of this kind have come 
under the Author's notice ; and the patients were de- 



LOOSE BOWELS. 97 

stroyed, from a misconception of the, nature of the symp- 
tom ; they are more of the nature of the rigors of 
disorganization and of absorbed matter, than of the chill 
of Fever and Ague, but treated as this latter, every dose 
administered, only kills the surer and the sooner. 

LOOSE BOWELS, 

by which is meant, three or more stools in twenty-four 
hours, of a lightish color, and thin as common mortar or 
even whitewash ; this is a symptom of the later stages, 
but if properly controlled, persons often live in comfort 
for months, and sometimes years, who otherwise would 
have perished in a few days. 

The condition of the bowels is a matter of the first 
importance in all stages of consumptive disease, more 
especially in the advanced stages, when they are inclined 
to be loose. 

If the passages are dark or greenish, they are favor- 
able, although they may be thin. In proportion as they 
are thin and of a lightish color, they are debilitating and 
dangerous, whether few or many. The first best advice 
is, send for a physician at once ; in the meantime, be 
quiet, lie down on a bed or sofa, eat not an atom of any 
thing, except as much ice as may be desired, and drink 
nothing but thick flaxseed tea, or gum arabic, or slip- 
pery elm bark mucilage, that is, water thickened with 
these. 

Many a valuable life has been shortened, if not lost, 
by taking something for loose bowels, that is, diarrhoea, 
by following the over-confident advice of a well meaning 
neighbor or friend, who has no life to lose by the ineffi- 
cacy or over efficacy, or inappropriateness of the means 
which he himself recommends. Over confidence is 
5 



98 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

always the result of ignorance, inexperience and reck 
lessness. In all forms of loose bowels, it is as danger- 
ous to arrest it too soon, as it is to neglect it too Jong. 
When arrested too soon, the brain becomes affected, and 
drowsiness, insensibility, and death soon follow. When 
the patient dies by being let alone, or by taking salts, 
castor oil, or other such things, which only aggravate 
the disease, he retains his senses to the very last, as is 
commonly observed in cholera, which is nothing more 
than a violent diarrhoea. 

IS CONSUMPTION COMMUNICABLE'? 

Some of the most eminent writers on the subject 
have died of Phthisis, Laennec, Hastings, Wooster and 
others, whether from thinking about it so much, or from 
being so frequently where it was, I cannot say ; I only 
state a known fact. Again, most assuredly the large 
majority of widowers and widows w T ho apply to me, 
have had their companions to die of Consumption. The 
use the reader should make of these facts is, habitual- 
ly not to eat, or drink, or sleep in a room where a con- 
sumptive person is confined. If called to sit up with 
them, eat some plain food every four hours during the 
night, in another room ; and let a door, or window, or 
fire-place be partially open all the time. Impure air of 
any kind, if habitually breathed for along time, especially 
if the person be sitting about in comparative rest, is 
capable of generating consumption from the beginning; 
and much more, if a person be inclined that way, or have 
had near relations die with it. 



IS CONSUMPTION CURABLE 1 99 



IS CONSUMPTION CURABLE? 

In its first stages, that is, previous to the commence- 
ment of any actual decay or destruction of the lungs, it 
is certainly, and often, and permanently cured. 

In its last stages, that is, when the lungs have begun 
to decay away, never ! 

The reader may consider this answer sufficiently 
definite, and to the point, but without an explanation, 
it will convey an erroneous idea, as to the second state- 
ment. No one will deny the full truth of the first. 
When a man's arm is cut off, and it heals up, he goes 
about his business, as if nothing had ever happened, and 
he is said to be a well man. In one sense of the word 
he is well ; but he can never be a whole man again, can 
never be fully well, for the lost portion of the body cannot 
be restored ; therefore, he cannot be said to be a perfectly 
well man. So when a man is in the last stages of con- 
sumption, he has lost a portion of his lungs, the disease 
may be arrested, no more lungs may decay, all cough 
and expectoration may disappear with night sweats, and 
pain in the breast, or sides, and years afterwards, he 
may die of a disease wholly different, as in the case of 
Mr. Justice, and of Mr. Babbington in subsequent pages, 
cases occurring in the Author's practice. And as in 
the case of the celebrated medical writer and philoso- 
pher, Andrew Combe, of Edinburgh, and Dr. Joseph 
Parish, of Philadelphia, mentioned hereafter. But these 
men could never be said to be well, they had lost a 
portion of their lungs, and there can be no re-growth, no 
new creation of lung substance, hence they were deli- 
cate persons ever afterward, but enjoyed for many years, 
after the lungs had begun to decay and healed up, a rea- 



100 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

sonable and comfortable degree of health But the scienti- 
fic gentlemen making an examination cf the lungs after 
death, saw with their eyes, in the broad light of day, 
first, that there was no disease in the lungs, and second, 
that death was wholly the result of ailments in other 
portions of the body, in the nature of ship fever in Dr. 
Combe's case. They were weakly or frail ever after, 
because a part of their lungs were gone, and they had 
to live on a smaller amount of air from day to day, than 
was natural, and but from the accidental attacks of 
other diseases, they might have been alive and in com- 
fortable health to this day. 

Attention is requested again to the case of Mr. B — . 
At the outset I gave it as my opinion that so much of 
the lungs had decayed away, that he never would be 
wholly well again. But at the end of eighteen months, 
twelve months after he had ceased to be under my care, 
when he came to see me as a friend, I had the curiosity 
to weigh him, and to measure his lungs, when he 
weighed as much as at any previous period of his life, 
and his lungs reached the full healthful standard. 

I feel'fully authorized to boast of this case, and give 
it as an encouragement to others to persevere in the ob- 
servance of the directions given them, as long as they 
appear to do them the slightest good ; and to fight re- 
solutely and courageously against every rising symp- 
tom, until there is not an ache or ail, or pain in the 
whole body. 

But how is it, that after he had lost a part of his lungs 
by decay, he should recover his full healthful measure- 
ment? 

A kind Providence never gives, but that he gives 
abundantly. All men in health have more lungs than 



IS CONSUMPTION CURABLE? 101 

are actually necessary for the ordinary wants of the sys- 
tem, as something to fall back upon, in case extra efforts 
are needed, as often occurs in the emergencies of life. 

Again: in the by-gone days of wagon driving over 
mud roads in winter, just as the six horse team is al- 
most in sight of its night's resting place, one of the 
horses is taken sick and dies ; it has often happened in 
the necessities of the case, that each of the five remain- 
ing, is made to perform an extra amount of labor, and by 
so doing, all reach their destination ; five horses doing 
the work of six. When one kidney is destroyed the 
other enlarges and will perform for life the work of two ; 
thus in the lungs, although a portion of them may have 
been destroyed, the remainder, by proper exercise and 
education, may be so strengthened and enlarged in their 
capacities and capabilities, as to be enabled to perform an 
amount of service equal to that which the entire lungs did 
before. Such was the case with Mr. B. But while I speak 
of this as a matter of encouragement to all who read this 
book, I deem it due to truth and justice to say, that such 
a result is never to be attained, except by energetic at- 
tentions, long continued; and even with these,*there are 
destined to occur, but too many failures, simply, be- 
cause of too long a delay in the beginning. 

The opinions of great men on any point, are en- 
titled to our respectful consideration ; but when men of 
distinction give their opinion on a subject which they 
have made their daily study for ten, twenty, thirty 
years or more, that opinion becomes in a certain sense, 
a fixed fact, and the denial of that fact, simply from a 
prejudice, or an impression to the contrary, without ever 
having made a single examination, or knowing anything 
as to the nature of the points to be investigated, a de- 



102 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

rial I say, under such circumstances, is not worth a 
thought, as it is worse than lost time to argue with ig- 
norance. I propose therefore to give some of the 
opinions of medical authors on the curability of consump- 
tion, men of eminence in their profession the world over, 
men who have made consumptive disease their constant 
and almost only study for the greater part of their lives, 
studying the cases while alive, and examining them after 
death, men, whose opinions on other medical subjects 
are considered as standard authority on both sides of the 
Atlantic, and having done so, I will leave the reader to 
form his own opinion, with this remark, viz., that I have 
always found those persons exhibit the most uncom- 
promising hostility to the idea that consumption is to 
be cured under any circumstances, who feel themselves 
to be in perfect health, and are pretty sure, that they 
have nothing like the disease in their own person ; they 
will really become even angry at the very expression 
of an opposite opinion, exhibiting an impatient intoler- 
ance, wholly inconsistent with a high degree of intelli- 
gence. This circumstance has given an eminent Eng- 
lish writer, Dr. Williams, Physician to the University 
College Hospital of London, occasion to observe in the 
" Medical Times," No. 230. " Many persons are set 
down as quacks, if they utter the words, ' cure of con- 
sumption,' and if a case does occur, it is said that it was 
not consumption." There is full reason in the United 
States, for the utterance of this sentiment, although de- 
signed for British ears. 

In the discussion of this question, there is a most un- 
fair and illogical commingling of ideas, by not acknow- 
ledging a case to be Consumption, until the person is 
dead or in a dying condition ; and then, because there 



IS CONSUMPTION CURABLE? 103 

are few, if any recoveries from this stage, the sweeping 
announcement is made, that Consumption cannot be 
cured, that it is inevitably a fatal disease. This is allow- 
ing Phthisis only a single stage, and that is the last 
stage ; leaving the "first half of the disease without a 
name or appropriation. On the same principle, any 
other disease is incurable. It would be just as insequent 
to say that a man has not cholera, unless he is in the 
last stage, that is, collapse, and then to argue that because 
few, if any, recover from the collapsed stage, cholera 
is incurable, leaving all the premonitory symptoms 
nowhere, w T holly unclassified. The truth is, all that is 
said about Consumption being curable or incurable, ex- 
cept by scientific men, is the merest jargon imagina- 
ble ; and the truly intelligent unprofessional reader will 
express his opinion on the subject hesitatingly and with 
modest moderation. But when an intelligent man has 
examined a subject, especially if it be in close connection 
with the main business of his life, he has a right to speak 
confidently and without equivocation. Such are the 
opinions which follow, and no wonder, because it is with 
them, not a thing to be reasoned about, whether, when 
the lungs have once begun to decay, they can heal up, 
and be sound again ; it is a matter of ocular demon- 
stration ; it is a thing to be seen, for the lungs, like any 
other part of the body, when wounded, divided by a 
knife or an ulceration, leave a scar in the healing, just as 
certainly as a gash in the arm or an ulcer in the flesh, will, 
when healed, leave a scar. If when a surgeon examines 
the bones of a dead man, he sees a certain mark, he knows 
that that bone has been broken, because the appear- 
Bnee could not present itself without a previous fracture, 
which fracture cannot occur, and unite, without such a 



104 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

mark being left. It is precisely so with the lungs, and 
from such evidence it is announced by the most skilful 
anatomists and surgeons the world ever saw, that there 
are few of all who die in civilized society, after forty 
years, who have not the unmistakable, ocular marks in 
the lungs, that at some previous time, they had begun to 
decay, that such decay had been arrested, in most cases 
spontaneously, without the use of any remedial means 
whatever, and the persons had died of wholly different 
diseases, without ever having had the slightest suspicion 
that any thing had been the matter with the lungs. It 
is true, these decays were slight, still they establish 
the great fact, that so far from its being a rare occur- 
rence, that the lungs heal, it is a thing which takes 
place every day of the world. Small scars are frequently 
seen, several in a single pair of lungs sometimes ; large 
ones very seldom, bringing us back to the point from 
which we started, that the cure of Consumption in its 
first stages, is of common occurrence, but in its last 
stages never to be promised. 

It was in reference to these after death, ocular signs 
of the cure of consumption, that the celebrated Aber- 
nethy exclaimed, " Can consumption be cured ] why 
that's a question which a man who has lived in a dis- 
secting room would laugh at." He considered it so 
evident, so demonstrable to the external senses, as to be 
beyond argument. 

It has been said that the lungs are never at rest, and 
therefore can never heal. But the heart has been 
wounded with bullets, bayonets and daggers, and the 
persons have recovered, and the heart moves twice, 
while the lungs move once. Many persons have been 
stabbed in the breast or side, or have been shot through 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 105 

and perfectly recovered ; the gallant General Shields, a 
member of the United States Senate, is a living example 
of the fact, a ball from one of the enemy in the Mexican 
war, having passed entirely through the lungs. I would 
not have taken so much time on this subject, but from 
the wish that more truthful views should prevail, for 
until a more proper understanding of the nature of con- 
sumption becomes prevalent in the community, it must 
continue to be the scourge of humanity. 

As the general reader could not be expected to know 
the position which the witnesses have occupied in the 
world, it will add to the weight and proper appreciation 
of their testimony, for me to state in what situations 
they were placed, and in what estimation they were 
held by the communities in which they lived. 

John Hunter, the Napoleon of medicine says, certain 
things " tend much to cure scrofula, and consequently 
to cure consumption, which is clearly scrofula, and ad- 
mits of CURE." 

Dr. Carswell, an English physician of great eminence, 
who spent many years in examining consumptive cases, 
while living, and the appearance of the lungs after death, 
uses this remarkably strong and decided language : 

" Pathological anatomy has perhaps never afforded 
more convincing evidence, in proof of the curability of 
disease, than it has in that of tubercular consumption." 

This same gentleman, who is one of the most elegant, 
and popular writers of modern times, says in another 
place : 

" The important fact of the curability of consumption 
has been satisfactorily established, and its perfect cure 
demonstrated by -scars in the lungs." 

Dr. Evans, another English author, who has had a 
5* 



106 BRONCHITIS AXD KINDRED DISEASES. 

most extensive practice in lung affections, for many 
years, says, "I promise you, that by pursuing a proper 
line of treatment, you will be enabled to cure many 
cases of consumption in evert stage." 

In reference to the above statement, the editors of the 
London Lancet, one of whom is a member of the British 
Parliament, and an educated physician, says, in a recent 
number of that work, which is, by the way, the first and 
best medical publication of the kind in the world : 

' ; On this point we entirely agree with "the author, 
that recovery from phthisis pulmonalis, is much more 
frequent than is generally supposed, is an opinion daily 
gaining ground. The press at present, is teeming with 
works on this subject, and the numerous facts that are 
daily brought forward can no longer be met or put down 
by charging those who publish them with want of know- 
ledge. * * * We deprecate that condemnation which 
those receive who maintain its curability. * * * * 
There is necessarily nothing malignant or fatal in tuber- 
cle itself, and by treating the constitutional disease, its 
further deposition may be checked." 

Dr. Weatherhead, a veteran physician of London, 
says : 

" It is now too much the fashion with a certain class 
of our profession, when they find or fancy, that lesion of 
the lungs is present, to condemn the patient to inevit- 
able death, and thenceforth abandoning all active mea- 
sures for his recovery, adopt a mere palliative mode of 
treatment, under which, time never to be regained is 
lost, and the patient glides into that incurable stage, in 
which they had at first pronounced him to be." 

The following extract from a French author, who has 
had extensive opportunities of making observations in 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 107 

diseases of the lungs, and who for a number of years 
has given them special attention, is worthy of all consi- 
deration : 

Curability of Phthisis. — M. Fournet alludes to his 
having met with, in the course of one year, no fewer 
than 14 cases of confirmed phthisis that were cured ; 
besides 10 other cases, in which dissection revealed the 
traces of caverns that had become perfectly healed. 

He goes on to remark, that "these 14 cases of 
phthisis cured in the living subject, have proved to 
me — 

" 1. That certain persons who have exhibited the 
most decided symptoms of the disease, in its most ad- 
vanced stage, may yet be restored to excellent health. 

"3. That even hereditary phthisis, in its most ad- 
vanced stage, is susceptible of cure ; although such an 
occurrence is certainly much more rare than in cases of 
the accidental disease. 

" 5. The capital fact which seems to spring from these 
inquiries is, that tuberculous disease is not, like cancer, 
essentially incurable ; on the contrary, that it is often 
curable, and that its extreme and most disheartening 
fatality is referable rather to the circumstances of its 
being seated in one of the vital organs of the system, 
and to its tendency to frequent relapses, than to its 
primary and essential nature." 

Dr. James Johnson, physician to King William IV. 
of England, quotes, in No. 82, of the Medico Chirurgi- 
cal Review, from Bulletin de Therapeutique, the follow- 
ing decided language in reference to Consumption — " by 
such means, we may reasonably hope to arrest the evil 
in not a few cases, which if improperly treated, will 
hurry on to a fatal termination." 



108 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

The Bulletin of Medicine, published in Philadelphia, 
by Dr. Bell, Professor in the Philadelphia Medical 
School, says, " Dr. Stokes speaks more especially of the 
curableness and cure of Consumption, in its earliest 
stages. Andral, Carswell, Williams, Morton and Eo- 
gee, assert, on evidence, its curableness and cure, in the 
most advanced stages. Dr. Rogee's essay, contains the 
result of observations made in a careful examination of 
more than two hundred subjects, in which the removal 
of tubercle by absorption, or cicatrices of pulmonary 
tissue, or the substitution of cretaceous or calcareous 
concretions for open tubercles, were manifest. The most 
eminent pathologists of the present day concur in the 
opinion, that Pulmonary Consumption is most certainly 
curable in the last and worst stages of the disease." 

Since the preceding pages were sent to the printer, 1 
have derived sincere satisfaction in meeting with the 
strongest confirmation of some of the more important 
sentiments advanced. The following are quotations 
from a late number of the London Lancet, a "Journal 
which has long been celebrated as the most valuable 
periodical for medical practitioners ever published, while 
an uninterrupted existence of more than twenty years, 
has long produced for it a most elevated standard and 
character." 

The editor, Mr. Wakely, a member of the British 
Parliament, says in relation to Consumption, " We have 

NEVER HAD A DOUBT OF ITS CURABILITY. Ill a former 

volume, this important question was considered, and the 
experience which we have since had, fully confirms the 
truth then expressed, that " Physical diagnosis and pa- 
thological research show us that recovery takes place in 
many cases of true tubercular deposite in the lungs. 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 109 

One fact is worth a cart load of opinions. What then 
must be the value of the hundreds of accumulated facts 
which support this view % Thus M. Boudet states, that 
in the post mortem examination of forty-five subjects, 
between three and fifteen years old, he had observed the 
cure of Consumption in twelve cases. 

" In one hundred and sixteen individuals, aged between 
fifteen and seventy-six years, tubercles in the lungs or 
bronchial glands had become innocuous in ninety-seven 
cases, and had wholly disappeared in sixty-one. 

" In one hundred and ninety-seven autopsies, promis- 
cuously taken, he found ten instances in which, at least, 
one cavern completely cicatrized, existed in the lung ; 
and in eight cases one or more cavities were found in 
different stages of cicatrization. 

" There can be, therefore, no question as to the cura- 
bility of Consumption." 

The belief in the curability of phthisis is gaining 
ground every day, on both sides of the Atlantic, because 
the facts presented are absolutely incontrovertible ; no 
sane man, (I mean medical man,) can resist them, who 
will acquaint himself with them. And I have great 
hopes, that, in a few years, a disease which now destroys 
one in six of the inhabitants of New York, Philadelphia, 
Boston, Baltimore, Washington, and of other large cities, 
and perhaps not a less proportion in the country, will be 
as often and as perfectly cured, as bilious fever. It is 
true, that the mode and means of cure may be various 
in different hands, just as in any other disease; fever 
and ague, for example, is cured by different remedies, 
but the principles of cure must be forever the same. 

The populace generally, many common physicians, 
and even a few educated ones, believe it incurable. 



110 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

There are, however, many great names bearing unequi 
vocal testimony that it can be perfectly cured, even in 
its last stages, by healing with a scar, just as a gaping 
cut finger will heal in a healthy person, if you press the 
sides together. That such scars are found in the lungs, 
and Consumption cured, the following testimonies are 
offered. Not the assertions of men, who have never 
examined the lungs in a dozen dead bodies, but of those 
who have examined many thousands, and have a right to 
know and to be relied on. 

1 found an encased cavity, on an almost healthy lung 
tissue. — Louis. 

That a tubercular excavation is ever capable of a cure, 
is an important fact; and it is so, independently of all 
medical aid. — Cowan. 

" It is next to impossible to open a dozen bodies with- 
out meeting with positive proof of the curability of Con- 
sumption," — in the presence of cicatrices, scars, in the 
lungs.- — Dr. Ramadge, of London. 

Dr. Clarke, of England, who wrote a book to prove 
that Consumption could not be cured, admits that " ca- 
vities in the lungs may remain a long while stationary, 
gradually contract, and become obliterated !" 

Dr. Latham, another English physician of distinction, 
who also endeavored to prove the same point, distinctly 
says, " we occasionally find traces of cavities, which 
have healed, in persons who have died of Consumption." 

The important fact of the curability of Consumption, 
has been satisfactorily established, and its perfect cure de- 
monstrated. — Cyc. Prac. Med. 

A French physician, who died a few years ago, and 
is believed to have taught the world more that was new 
on the subject of the same disease, than any one man 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. Ill 

who had ever lived before him, and who spent many 
years among consumptive patients, inquiring into their 
symptoms, and feelings when alive ; and examining the 
lungs of those who died, writes in this manner, " When 
1 first asserted the evidence of pulmonary cicatrices, it 
directed the attention of the hospital physicians to the 
subject, and so many of these evidences existed, they 
concluded it could not be that, but was something else 
An ulcer in the lungs may be cured in two ways, by a 
scar, or by turning it into a fistula ; these scars and fis- 
tulas in the lungs, are extremely common; and con- 
sidering the great number of consumptive, and other 
subjects, in whom they are found, the cure of Consump- 
tion ought not to be considered impossible ; for cavities 
in the lungs may be completely obliterated. It has been 
shown that its cure is not beyond the power of nature, 
it is possible for nature to cure it." — Laennec. 

" Heat is generated in proportion to the size and vigor 
of the lungs. Many persons with imperfectly developed 
lungs and a predisposition to Consumption, complain 
habitually of a coldness of the surface and feet. And 
many who were in previously good health, become more 
and more sensible to cold, in proportion as the approach 
of the disease, weakens the functions of the lungs. I 
have noticed this, both in myself and others, before any 
other evident symptom had appeared. And I have seen 
its farther progress arrested, by a timely use of the 
proper means, where much greater difficulty would have 
been experienced, had the warning not been attended 
to." — Dr. Combe, of Scotland. 

Marshal Hall says, Obs. 2316, "The usual appear- 
ances of a cavity in phthisis and of the subsequent cica- 
trix," &c, and then proceeds to give engravings to show 



112 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

how they look. " The utmost resources of our art often 
avail us nothing. But scars are seen in the lungs, estab- 
lishing the fact that a tuberculous cavity heals, after the 
matter is expectorated, and I will tell you how to re- 
move the tuberculous matter by absorption and prevent 
its formation." — Br. Weatherhead. 

Tuberculous cavities are healed in three ways. — Dr. 
Hope. 

Dr. Weatherhead, one of the most honored of the 
London Faculty, writes : " With the superior advantages 
of treating Consumption on this plan. I was early im- 
pressed, from observing more recoveries under it, while 
employed during the late war at Hasler, one of the 
largest hospitals in England. And more lately, Dr. 
Giovanni di Vittis, physician of the Military Hospital 
at Capua, bears similar testimony to its efficacy in the 
Medical Annals of 1832, where he states that " between 
the 1st of May, 1828, and the 28th of January, 1832, 
forty-seven patients affected with Consumption in the 
first stage ; one hundred and two in the second ; and 
twenty-seven in the third or last stage, had left the hos- 
pital PERFECTLY CURED ! !" 

It is recorded in the " Transactions of the Path, &c, 
of Philadelphia," which society is composed of the most 
distinguished medical professors and physicians of that 
city, that " Dr. Parish, who during his life was the orna- 
ment and the honor of his profession, was, at the age of 
twenty-five years, attacked with Consumption in its 
hereditary form ; having lost a brother and sister by that 
complaint. He finally died in his sixty-first year, thirty- 
six years after his attack of Consumption." His body 
was examined by eight physicians of standing, among 
whom were several professors, who reported that " there 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 113 

was no recent tubercular granulations or deposits, but 
there were numerous cicatrices, depressions, puckerings, 
&c, proving that his apprehensions in early life were 
well founded, and giving the strongest evidence of the 
efficacy of his prophylactic measures." Here is a case 
of Consumption arrested in its progress, and effectually 
and permanently cured ; the patient, at the end of a 
third of a century, dying after a three weeks' illness of 
a complication of ailments, not specially referable to the 
lungs at all, as the seat of tubercular disease ; a case of 
Consumption cured, known to every respectable medical 
man in Philadelphia ; known too by evidence which no 
medical man can resist, for it is a demonstration ! 

Dr. Carswell is one of the most eminent British phy- 
sicians living : he is referred to by medical writers both 
in Europe and America, and is considered as the highest 
authority in lung affections, because he has for many 
years made tubercular disease a special study, and few 
men stand higher in the profession than he does. In 
writing an article on the general subject for the Cyclo- 
paedia of Practical Medicine, one of the most extensive 
and useful medical publications of modern times, every 
article being written by men of established reputation, 
a book designed to be a standard work, and to be placed, 
as it deserves to be, on the shelf of every respectable 
physician in America and Europe, for daily reference; 
especially in this country, being adapted to the wants of 
the American practitioner, by Dr. Dunglison, himself 
perhaps the most popular medical writer in the United 
States — in a work of such a high character Dr. C. says : 

" We shall confine ourselves to a statement of those 
facts, more especially those of an anatomical character, 
which demonstrate the favorable termination or cure of 



114 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tubercular disease. The cure of the disease is indicated, 
first, by the cessation of those symptoms which are 
peculiar to it ; or the restoration of those modifications 
of function, to which its existence gives rise. Second, 
by the disappearance of the local cause of the disease, 
or by the presence of certain lesions, which are known 
to follow, as the consequence of such cause, and no 
other! Such indications of the cure of tuberculous dis- 
ease have been observed, even in those organs, the lungs, 
in which this disease was long considered, and still is by 
most (?) medical men, to prove inevitably fatal. Traces 
of cure have frequently been observed in the lungs of 
persons whose history left no doubt as to their having, at 
some former period of their lives, been affected with 
Consumption. The important fact of the curability of 
this disease has, in our opinion, been satisfactorily estab- 
lished by Laennec. All the physical signs of tubercular 
phthisis have been present, even those which indicate 
the existence of an excavation, yet the disease has ter- 
minated favorably, and its perfect cure has been demon- 
strated.'''' 

Dr. C. here means to say to the common reader, 
" That Consumption can be perfectly cured, even after a 
part of the lungs have rotted away, is as plain to my 
mind as that two and two make four !" 

In another part of the same article, he enumerates 
certain visible signs of the perfect cure of Consurr ption, 
and says of them, " There must be few practical patho- 
logists, who will not consider these anatomical facts as 
evidence that Consumption is curable. No objection has 
been brought forward calculated in the slightest degree 
to invalidate the conclusion that they are positive indices 
of the removal of the material element of the disease, 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 115 

even at an advanced period of its progress. We cannot 
avoid repeating the fact, that pathological anatomy has 
perhaps never afforded more conclusive evidence in proof 
of the curability of a disease than it has in that of Con- 
sumption ! !" 

Laennec, whose knowledge of the lungs, their diseases, 
&c, was more extensive than that of any half dozen 
physicians of modern times, and perhaps all of them, 
together, up to this day, was so entirely convinced that 
the cure of Consumption was of frequent occurrence, he 
says : " 7" think it is more than probable that hardly any 
person is carried off by a first attack of Consumption /" 

To the above, I may add the testimony of Sir James 
Clark, whose reputation is such, that he was employed 
to write the article on phthisis for the Encyclopaedia, as 
being, from his extensive experience and great learning, 
the most competent person in England to perform the 
duty in a manner worthy of the high character of the 
work. It is the more valuable, as Sir James is rather 
averse to considering the disease curable, except in its 
forming stages, even he acknowledges it is practicable 
" to prevent tuberculous disease if it has not already 
shown itself, or to check its progress if it has already 
taken place, as there are many instances where the fur- 
ther progress of the disease may be stayed. I am 
acquainted with some striking examples of persons now 
living, a considerable portion of whose lungs is incapa- 
ble of performing its functions, and yet, with care, they 
enjoy a reasonable share of health. Under such circum- 
stances, lives may be preserved that are of vast import- 
ance to their families and to society. Indeed we are 
satisfied that there are far more individuals in this state 
than is generally believed ; and it is well known, that 



116 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tubercles are frequently found after death in the lungs 
of persons, in whom their existence had not been even 
suspected. We have already stated our conviction, that 
the great cause of our want of success in the cure of tuber- 
cular disease, arises from the advanced stage at which its 
real nature is discovered, and from the late period at which 
the physician is consulted. If Laennec's opinion be true, 
that few die of a first attack of Consumption, we have 
still more reason to hope that the disease may be cured, 
that is, that a second attack may be prevented, by pre- 
venting a relapse into his former state." 

After having prepared the above for the printer, I 
found an interesting article in the third volume Nov. of 
the N. Y. Jour, of Med. and Col. Sciences, by Dr. 
Forry. It is a short review of a treatise on patholo- 
gical anatomy by Carl Rokitanski, Anatomical Pro- 
fessor in the University of Vienna, 1844. Of this work, 
Dr. Forry himself gives the following high praise, " We 
prize it as an acquisition to our medical literature ; and 
will say without hesitation, that as a work on pure 
pathological anatomy, it has not been surpassed by any 
that' has yet appeared ! And we will conclude this 
notice, by quoting the remarks on ' The curative pro- 
cesses in tubercles of the lungs? as one of the best por- 
tions of the book, and as illustrating the admirable man- 
ner in which the author unites clearness of description, 
with conciseness, the best internal evidence of accurate 
original observation." 

Professor R. observes — " Tubercular pulmonary Con- 
sumption is doubtless curable, as may be inferred from 
not unfrequent appearances in the dead bodies of those 
who formerly had more or less suspicious affection of 
the chest, from which they recovered. We can only 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 117 

expect to arrive at a truly rational and certain method 
of treatment, by an investigation of the circumstances 
under- which such spontaneous cures have taken place; 
and the consequences of such treatment will be the more 
beneficial, as it will be directed not merely against the 
tuberculous dyscrasia also. Pulmonary Consumption 
and tuberculous abscesses may be cured after the general 
disease, and hence that process which lies at the founda- 
tion of its local effects, viz. : the tubercles and abscesses, 
has been eradicated. Under such conditions it has been 
proven, by numerous incontrovertible facts, that tuber- 
culous abscesses may heal, and in fact in several dif- 
ferent ways. 

First. Reactive inflammation, deposites a gelatinous 
infiltration, which obliterates the air cells, converting 
the adjacent parenchyma into a dense, nbro-cellular tis- 
sue of varying thickness, lining the whole tuberculous 
abscess, which secretes through life, a serous, sticky, 
synovial fluid. 

Second. If the abscess be not too large, it may close 
by a gradual approximation of its walls, which finally 
touch and unite with one another. We then find a 
cellulo-fibrous stripe (a white scar) in the place of the 
former cavern ; the bronchii terminate in it, in a cul-de- 
sac. The approximation and agglutination of the walls 
of the abscess may be essentially aided by various occur- 
rences, among which belong the sinking in of the walls 
of the chest ; the compression of the lungs by the dia- 
phragm ; by the enlargement of the abdomen, or some of 
its organs ; the emphysematous dilatation of the paren- 
chyma adjacent to the abscess; bronchial dilatation, 
&c. If the curative process sets in, and proceeds very 



118 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

rapidly, the cicatrix may enclose chalky concretions of 
various sizes. 

Third. The abscess may be filled with a mass of fibro- 
cartilaginous tissue, in which case, only a slight con- 
traction of the lungs and breast ensues." 

Here is testimony of the highest kind ; stronger, and 
more competent cannot be given ; and what is more, its 
truth is endorsed by one of the best medical journals 
published in this country. And the amount of this 
testimony, in more familiar language, is simply this, 
that " after a part of the lungs are lost, if it be but a 
small cavity, it may be perfectly healed by bringing the 
sides together, only leaving a long, whitish, fine scar, 
just such an one as is left from the healing of a gash on 
the finger, or on any other part of the body : but if a 
larger amount of lungs are gone, so much so, that the 
sides of the cavity cannot be made to meet, these sides 
are lined with a material of nature's own manufacture, 
which prevents the progress of the decay." And this is 
precisely the principle advanced by me, in the first pub- 
lication I ever made on the subject, and which appeared 
in print long before the publication of Professor Roki- 
tanski's work. 

So far then from its being true that Consumption can- 
not be cured, it is here proved that it is effectually cured, 
even in its last stages ; that is, after the tubercles have 
softened down, and a portion of the lungs have decayed 
away. Attention is invited to a declaration of that 
great and remarkable man, Mr. Abernethy, " Can Con- 
sumption be cured? that's a question which a man who 
had lived in a dissecting room, would laugh at. How 
many people do you examine who have lungs tuber- 
cular, which are otherwise sound ? What is Consump- 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 119 

tion 1 It is tubercle of the kings — then if those tuber- 
cles are healed, and the lungs otherwise sound, the pa- 
tient must get better.. But if the inquirer shift his 
ground and say 'it was the case I meant, of tubercles 
over the whole lungs,' why then he shifts his grounds to 
no purpose, for there is no case of any disease which, 
when it has proceeded to a certain extent, can be cured." 

Louis, Laennec, E-amadge, Marshall Hall, Stokes, 
Combe, Corrigan, Copeland, Clark, Mudge, Mcintosh, 
Beddoes, Rush, Bennet, Crichton, Cruvenheiler, Wil- 
liams, Green,. Hope, Burton, Ryan, Scudamore, this 
last, a gentleman and a scholar, an honor to the medical 
profession, whose reputation and success have extended 
to both sides of the Atlantic : these, and a host of 
others, alike eminent for their learning, and honored for 
their talents and their devotion to the pursuits and 
studies of their profession, and whose writings have so 
much tended to enlighten the age they live in — these, I 
say, are the men, in whose company I am found, in ad- 
vocating the curable nature of common consumption of 
the lungs. And in attempting to do, what so many 
great names say can be done, and is done constantly, I 
think I do an infinitely higher good to society, even if I 
but mitigate the sufferings of the doomed, and keep 
them at home among their kindred, than men of lesser 
note than those above, whose names will scarcely in a 
life time travel a dozen miles from their office door, 
whose theory is " Consumption can't be cured, and it is 
useless to try," and whose practice is the stereotype 
recipe of the last hundred years, " go to a milder 
climate." 

The People's Journal, for July, of the present year, 
one of the most popular European publications, has an 



120 BRONCHITIS AMD KINDRED DISEASES. 

interesting article in relation to the Consumption Hospi- 
tal, founded at Brompton, five years ago ; and few insti- 
tutions have risen so rapidly : it has a long list of noble 
and wealthy subscribers, with the Queen and most of the 
Royal family at its head. " As death has abundautiy 
proved the mortality of the disease, so. paradoxical as 
it may seem, death also- supplies us with evidence that 
the chief structural lesions of Consumption, tubercles in 
the lungs, are not necessarily fatal. The writer of these 
lines can state, from his own observation, (which has not 
been limited, and is confirmed by that of others.) that, in 
the lungs of nearly one half of the adult persons ex- 
amined after death from other diseases, and even from 
accidents, a few tubercles, or some unequivocal traces of 
them, are to be found. In these cases, the seeds of the 
malady were present, but were dormant, waiting for cir- 
cumstances capable of exciting them into activity, and if 
such circumstances did not occur, the tubercles gradually 
dwindled away, or were in a state of comparatively 
harmless quiescence. This fact supported by others, too 
technical to be adduced here, goes far to prove an impor- 
tant proposition, that Consumptive disease is fatal by its 
degree, rather than by its kind ; and the smaller degrees 
of the disease, if withdrawn from the circumstances 
favorable to its increase, may be retarded, arrested or 
even permanently cured. There are few practitioners 
of experience who cannot narrate cases of supposed 
Consumption which, after exhibiting during months and 
even years, undoubted symptoms of the disease, have 
astonished all by their subsequent, more or less, 
complete recovery. Cautious medical men have con- 
cluded themselves mistaken, and that the disease was 
not trulv tuberculous : but. in these davs. when the de- 



TESTIMONY OF LMINENT PHYSICIANS. 121 

teetion and distinction of diseases is brought to a perfec- 
tion bordering on certainty, the conclusion that recove- 
ries do take place from limited degrees of tubercles of 
the lungs, is admitted by the best authorities, and is in 
exact accordance with the above mentioned results of 
cadaveric inspection. Consider properly, and you will 
be ready to admit the truth of what has been already 
established by experience, that Consumption may be 
often prevented, arrested, or retarded by opportune aid. 
On this point we know that many medical men are 
utterly incredulous, and stigmatize others who are less 
so, in no measured terms ; but, with the present rapid 
improvements in all the departments of medical know- 
ledge, there is less ground for such incredulity than there 
was for that which opposed and ridiculed Jenner in his 
advocacy of vacillation as the preventive of small pox." 

In view of the' above, and other testimonials, else- 
where of the most distinguished living writers in 
favor of the curability of Consumption, it is impossible 
for a well informed and well balanced mind any 
longer to deny it. We cannot conceive it possible that 
so many great men should be so much deceived on a 
point which they have made it the business of a life 
time to investigate and study. 

The following articles are interesting and co.robora- 
tive. " Littell's Living Age," No. 379, for August, the 
most popular and best conducted journal of the kind in 
America, copies from the London " Spectator " the fol- 
lowing highly interesting and well-written article. Every 
line of it merits the mature consideration of the intelli- 
gent reader. 



122 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

" NEW HOSPITAL FOR DISEASES OF THE CHEST. 

" While one-third of the deaths in the metropolis are 
ascribable to diseases of the chest, the hospital accom- 
modation devoted to that class of diseases has hereto- 
fore been only one-tenth ; that is to say, the most pre- 
valent and destructive class of diseases has had the least 
counteraction among the poorer classes. This peculiar, 
if not studied neglect, must be ascribed to a notion, now 
happily dying out, that diseases connected with the re- 
spiratory organs, and especially the lungs, were virtually 
beyond the reach of certain or effective treatment. It 
was in deference to this old notion that Lord Carlisle 
made an admission, in his address to Prince Albert, on 
laying the first stone of the City of London Hospital 
for Diseases of the Chest — ' We admit,' he said, ' that 
hospitals ought to give the preference to those maladies 
which afford a prospect of cure, rather than to those of 
a less hopeful character.' Now, this admission, espe- 
cially as compared with the qualification which followed 
it, that very much may be effected by precaution and a 
timely counteraction, is far too strong for the truth. 
Without accepting as literally true the inference of a 
physician eminent in the treatment of pectoral diseases, 
that all persons are at one time or other visited by mal- 
adies of that class, we believe it is certain that the pro- 
portion of mortality, enormous as it is, scarcely repre- 
sents the comparative extension ., of such diseases. In 
the practical and popular sense of the word, it may be 
said that cure is as common in the class of pectoral dis- 
eases as in any other class. It has become much more 
common, indeed, since the great advance that has been 
made with the knowledge of such complaints in our 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 123 

own day. This advance has been of a two-fold charac- 
ter. The immense progress of physiological inquiry 
has thrown great light on the connection and common 
causes of most cognate diseases, not only with each 
other but with the general health, and has thus enor- 
mously augmented the power of the physician in treating 
them by medicine and regimen. The invention of the 
stethescope, by placing the exploration of the inner 
chest within reach of observation, has given a distinct- 
ness of knowledge on the most characteristic and dan- 
gerous symptoms, heretofore unattainable : it has thus 
completed the round of evidence which establishes the 
connection of diseases, and at the same time guides the 
nature and application of topical treatment. 

In discovering that the prevalency of pectoral diseases 
was far greater than had been supposed, science has also 
discovered how much more they are under subjection to 
the general laws of physiology and medicine. This 
branch of science, however, is younger than others — a 
fact which teaches us to remember how much is to be 
expected from the active and vigorous intellects now de- 
voted to its exploration. We may also remember that 
while the primary object of hospitals is the relief of 
sufferers who are too poor to obtain it for themselves, 
they are also great instruments for the benefit of society 
at large, by checking the inroads of disease where it 
could not otherwise be encountered. They were all 
still more signally valuable as great schools for the study 
of the diseases to which they are appropriated. They ex- 
emplify most powerfully the double blessing of charity, 
for him that gives as well as him that receives ; the aid 
extended by a hospital to the poor is returned to the 
rich in the knowledge which it collects ; for in rescuing 



124 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

from untimely death the assembled children of poverty, 
science learns, as it could in no other way do, methods 
which enable it to rescue the children of wealth. 

" The more hopeful character of the most modern 
science had been in great part anticipated by the brave 
intellect of Andrew Combe. Before his time, it was too 
generally, if not universally assumed, that the symp- 
toms of Consumption were a death-warrant; he pro- 
claimed the reverse truth, and established it. He became 
In his own person the teacher and exemplar, both to 
physician and patient; and in his compact popular 
volume and regimen, he has recorded, in a form accessi- 
ble to all, the conclusions of his practical experience. 
He did away many of the old coddling notions, which 
helped to kill the patient by stifling the pores of the skin, 
filling the lungs with bad air, softening the muscular sys- 
tem with inaction, and deadening the vital functions ; a 
service scarcely more useful in reconciling the patient to 
the restorative influences of nature, than in returning 
hope to the afflicted relatives, and in showing what might 
be done by common sense and diligence. At an early 
age, Andrew Combe was found to be in a Consumption 
— words which were formerly accepted as a death-war- 
rant, in submission to which the awed patient duly laid 
down and died ; Andrew Combe lived more than twenty 
years longer, a life of activity, usefulness, and temperate 
enjoyment." 

In 1841, Sir James Clark, with Dr. James Cox, exam- 
ined the lungs of Dr. Andrew Combe, whom all consid- 
ered in the last stages of Consumption. Sir James said 
to his brother, " I am grieved indeed to find that the 
lungs on one side are affected to a considerable extent ; 
this examination has given me great distress, more than 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 125 

I ever suffered from the examination of a patient, because 
it gives me the painful conviction that his life, in all hu- 
man probability, cannot be long preserved ; I consider 
him a great benefactor to his race, and were he spared a 
few years longer he would do still more to promote the 
welfare of mankind. I am anxious to make you fully 
aware that he might die before the end of the winter ; 
therefore I give up all idea of recommending him to go 
abroad." Dr. Combe himself said in October, " I am 
now told it is scarcely expected I shall survive the win- 
ter, or go much beyond it." 

And yet without taking any medicine, except to re- 
gulate his general system, and by using all the means 
in his power, and which his extensive medical know- 
ledge so well qualified him to employ, he survived the 
winter and died six years afterwards of diarrhoea in 
connection with ship fever, and on examining his lungs, 
they " were found not worse than usual, and that his 
death was to be ascribed solely to disease of the bowels." 
And yet, in 1831, sixteen years before his death, he 
had lost his health, and considered himself so much of an 
invalid, that with Spurzheim's advice, he went to spend 
the winter in Italy, saying of himself, " Taking the whole 
aspect of the case, it would be difficult to find any cha- 
racteristic symptom of phthisis wanting." 

I give space to this narrative the more willingly, in 
the hope that it may afford rational ground for encour- 
agement to the frail and feeble, as to what may be ex- 
pected in the way of prolonging life for many years in 
reasonable comfort, by a patient and judicious attention 
to symptoms as they present themselves; not by the 
constant taking of medicine, for they who are always 
swallowing drops, or pills, or tonics, are always sick, 



126 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

but by a wise conduct as to the habits of life, using 
medicine only as an occasional, indispensable aid, for 
this, it is invaluable. And for further encouragement, I 
take occasion here to state in reference to 



that they often outlive by half a life-time the robust and 
the strong, because they feel compelled to take care of 
themselves, that is, to observe the causes of all their ill- 
feelings, and habitually and strenuously avoid them. 
Our climate is changeable, and in proportion unhealth- 
ful. In New York City, for example, during one 
week in December, in which the thermometer ranged 
from five degrees above Zero to fifty-five, there were 
forty-one deaths from inflammation of the lungs, while 
the ordinary number is about fifteen. The healthy dis- 
regard these changes to a great extent, and perish within 
a few days. The feeble are more sensitive to these 
changes ; they increase their clothing and their bedding 
with the cold, and with equal care diminish both, with 
the amount eaten, as the weather grows warmer, and 
thus, long outlive their hardier neighbors. These same 
precautions, with others, must all observe," through 
life, who have been cured of an affection of the throat 
or lungs. Let this never be forgotten, for the oftener 
you are re-attacked, the less recuperative energy is there 



in the system, and the less efficient will be the remedial 
means which once cured you, unless by months of con- 
tinued attention and wise observances, you give the parts 
a power and a strength they never had before. This 
can be done in many cases. 

But once cured, avoid the causes which first injured 
you. If you put your hand in the fire, you may restore 



ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE FRAIL AND FEEBLE. 127 

it, but however magical may be the remedy, that hand 
will be burned as often as it is placed in the fire, with- 
out any disparagement of the virtues of the restorative. 
No cure of your throat or lungs will render you invul- 
nerable. What caused the disease in the first instance 
will continue to cause it as long as you are exposed to 
it. No promise is given you of permanence of cure 
longer than you are careful of your health. The safer 
plan by far will be, to consider yourself peculiarly liable 
to the disease which once annoyed you, and make pro- 
portionate endeavors to guard yourself habitually against 
its advances. All assurances that any mode of cure 
will afford you a guarantee against subsequent attacks, 
are deceptive. No medicine that any man can take in 
health will protect him from disease. There is no greater 
falsity than this, that if you are well, a particular re- 
medy, or drink, or medicine, will fortify the system 
against any specified disease, whether cholera, yellow 
fever, or any other malady. So far from this being so, 
it is precisely the reverse. Doubly so ; you are thrown 
off your guard, and in addition you make the body more 
liable to the prevalent malady by poisoning the blood ; 
for whatever is not wholesome food, is a poison to the 
system, pure water excepted. Nothing, therefore, will 
protect a healthy man from disease but a rational atten- 
tion to diet, exercise, cleanliness, and a quiet mind ; all 
else will but the more predispose him to it. But when 
once diseased and then cured, these things are not suffi- 
cient to keep him well ; he must avoid what first made 
him an invalid, otherwise permanent health is not pos- 
sible, but a speedy relapse and death are inevitable, as 
to Throat-Ail, Bronchitis, and Consumption. 

The opinion as to the curable nature of consumption 



128 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

of the lungs has gained extensively within the last 
few years among medical writers of repute, so that a 
respectable medical journal can scarcely be opened with- 
out there being found in it statements more or less fa- 
vorable to its curability, j^T 5 by which I desire to be 
understood always, in these pages, merely an indefinite 
arrest of the disease in its last stages, but in its first 
stages, a thorough and permanent cure. 

Dr. John A. Swett, while he was physician to the 
New York Hospital, and member of the New York 
Pathological Society, has, in an- elegantly executed oc- 
tavo volume of six hundred pages, published in 1852, 
on " Diseases of the Chest," written much that is new, 
truthful and valuable. The book should make a part of 
the library of every medical scholar. Although in 
general he writes discouragingly as to the cure of con- 
sumption, yet in view of incontrovertible facts presented, 
he closes all that he has said on the subject, as follows : 

" Thus, by carefully watching the symptoms, by avoid- 
ing . the causes of irritability and irritation, opposing 
their progress by suitable remedies, life will certainly be 
prolonged, and sometimes a more or less complete reco- 
very will reward a judicious exercise of medical skill." 

Again, he says, "The cicatrization of a tubercular ab- 
scess is not a very rare occurrence." 

" Another change much more frequently noticed, must 
equally be regarded as a curative process — exhibiting 
one of the methods which nature employs to cure the 
disease." 

" Expectoration of chalky secretions indicates a cura- 
tive effort." 

" Abnormal circulation and cough are the last symp- 
toms which disappear in cases that recover." 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 129 

" Some of these cases undoubtedly terminate in a res« 
toration to health, yet after a long struggle." 

'"You will find him after many years, without any 
symptom of pulmonary disease, and finally dying of 
some malady, quite independent of the tubercular 
diathesis." 

"I have briefly recapitulated some of the leading 
changes that mark the cure of tuberculous disease." 

"I have known a number of patients, during the last 
fifteen years who have had the evidences of Consumption, 
and sometimes in an advanced stage, who finally recov- 
ered, and are now in the enjoyment of good health. I 
have been in the habit of examining the lungs of all my 
patients, dying of every form of disease, independent of 
Phthisis, for the traces of Phthisis that has been cured, 
and have been astonished at the number of cases which 
have presented evidences of this favorable result." 

" It is not uncommon to find in patients who have 
died of various diseases, and in which no suspicion of 
tuberculous disease existed at the time of death, creta- 
ceous masses and cicatrices" — which the author repeat- 
edly declares elsewhere, are evidences of the cure of 
tubercular disease. In corroboration of these views the 
Author records the statement of the " Physician to the 
Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, that ' in one hundred 
women, all above sixty years of age, and dying of 
various diseases, fifty-one presented curative indica- 
tions of Consumptive disease, and chiefly, by the forma- 
tion of chalky concretions. This result did not surprise 
me, as it would have done many of the profession, who 
believe that tubercles are equivalent to a death warrant. 
Indeed I am inclined to think that many cases will be 
found presenting undoubted evidences of Consumption, 
6* 



130 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

which yet recover, and the common expression, "The 
patient could not have had Consumption, because he re- 
covered," will cease to be believed. Anatomical facts 
prove beyond a doubt, that cases do recover, and that 
they are not very rare. " I remember a gentleman, now 
alive and well, most of whose brothers and sisters had 
died of Consumption, who was himself attacked with the 
symptoms of the disease in the most decided manner, 
these symptoms continued two years." 

In justice to the reader, as well as the Author, whom 
I have quoted so largely, I make another extract, 
to show his candor, and more than all, his kindly con- 
sideration, in endeavoring to repress any too sanguine 
expectations in the hearts of those who may have Con- 
sumptive disease, which strongly contrasts with the con- 
duct of the ruthless impostor, the unprincipled pretender, 
who unblushingly promises relief, and cure to all who 
come, scarcely excepting those in the very last stages of 
the disease. 

" I do not wish to state this case too strongly, I ad- 
mit, as all must do, that Consumption is a most fatal 
disease, and that the prospect of a cure is always un- 
favorable. Take as cheerful a view of this melancholy 
disease as circumstances will admit." 

I very much hope, that every medical scholar, who 
may chance to read these lines, will procure " Swett 
on Diseases of the Chest," and I doubt not, that the 
cause of humanity will be promoted thereby. The 
work is valuable, because it is superior to any previous 
American publication — superior, inasmuch as the Author 
writes from what he has seen, he writes from fifteen 
years experience, and advances opinions contrary to 
those entertained by the profession generally, with a 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 131 

modest confidence, which belongs only to a mind in- 
formed and disciplined. And if but one sentence of all 
I have quoted should be remembered by the physician, 
let it be this, the propriety and humanity of which, I 
myself have often and deeply felt, " I shall never entirely 
despair of the life of a patient with Consumption," nor 
will the experienced practitioner cease his efforts, or 
cease to hope for cure, until the day of death, in any 
ordinary case of Consumptive disease ; for certain it is, 
that persons do sometimes recover, and live for years, 
who were supposed to be in a dying condition. Such 

were the cases of Mr. J , and Mr. B- , already 

mentioned in these pages ; and who can say that the 
same thing shall not occur in the case of any oth< ;r patient 
hereafter % Each reader of these pages will be willing 
enough, when he comes to die, that every possible effort 
shall be made for his restoration, as long as the breath 
of life is in him ; let him not therefore attribute it to igno- 
rance or stupidity, when the conscientious physician, 
faithful even unto death, labors anxiously to the last hour, 
for one who has placed his life in his hands. It is an 
easy matter to prophesy of any particular case that he 
will die, and if he does die, to claim some credit for 
foresight, and in consonance with the prophecy, intermit 
all efforts, except to palliate suffering, but it is as heart- 
less as it is easy ; it is the dictate of one who is alike 
ignorant, lazy and unfeeling. The enlightened and hu- 
mane practitioner knows and feels that in Consumptive 
disease, while there is life Ihere is hope, and acts accord- 
ingly ; he therefore works and works hopefully too, long 
after his mere judgment is satisfied that the die is cast. 
Dr. Quain is a medical writer of high authority on 
both sides of the Atlantic; his anatomical plates are the 



132 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

most beautiful ever published : in 1851, he " presented 
to the Pathological Society of London, a specimen of 
lungs, showing the arrest of Consumption in its last 
stage." This statement is made in the London Medical 
Gazette of June 20th, 1851, p. 1086, and copied by 
Braithewait's Retrospect, on p. 86, part 24. These re- 
ferences are given purposely at length, that the medical 
scholar may know that higher and more respectable au- 
thority among Allopathic or Old School practitioners, 
cannot be given. The concluding sentence only is quot- 
ed.^ " This case affords an additional illustration of 
the great extent to which the ravages of Consumption 
may proceed, and its progress yet be stayed. Such cases 
happily, are now oftener met with, nor did he know 
one, which afforded after death, so striking a result." 

The above was the case of a young woman who was 
considered in the last stages of Consumption, the lungs 
having partly decayed away, yet she recovered, had 
good health, and died finally of inflammation of the 
stomach, when the lungs were taken out and preserved, 
as ocular demonstration of the fact, that Consumption in 
its last, that is, its decaying stages, admits of arrest and 
permanent cure. 

That Consumption admits of cure, that is of perma- 
nent arrest, is advocated in No. 45, for January, 1852, 
of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, second 
to no medical periodical in America, published in Phila- 
delphia, and Edited by the Surgeon of Wills' Hospital, 
and now an eminent Professor in one of our oldest med- 
ical colleges. In reviewing " Walsh on Diseases of the 
Lungs and Heart," published in London eight years be- 
fore, who speaks of " curing the disease," as a matter of 
course, the editor observes, 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 133 

" It is cheering to every humane physician, that one 
so capable and impartial as Dr. Walsh, should take a 
view of the tendencies of Consumption, very different 
from what has been almost universally entertained by 
writers upon this fell disease. He believes that the 
treatment of Consumption may confidently aim at slight 
improvement, at totally removing the subjective symp- 
toms, at ameliorating, or rendering quiescent, the physi- 
cal signs." 

In a note to a subsequent remark, the Editor says, p. 
189, " That such cures really occur in rare instances, is 
indubitable, and they are as perfect as in any other or- 
ganic disease, when they do occur. It has been the 
vanity of late years to deny this absolutely, because a 
scientific explanation of the fact cannot be found. I 
am not one of those who refuse to accept the evidence 
of my senses, because I am unable to comprehend what 
they teach me. &c." 

" This is not a treatise, but rather a mode of calling 
attention to a new and effective mode of curing Con- 
sumption." — Dr. Cronin, Surgeon. 

" Uniform and complete success having resulted in the 
treatment of several cases of tubercular Consumption, 
the Author deems it his duty to publish them." — Mr. 
Bodington. 

" So many persons affected by incipient Consumption, 
have been benefited and restored to perfect health, by 
what I am about to mention, I cannot but think that they 
possess great efficacy." — Marshal Hall. 

Taken from London Lancet for April 20, 1844, and 
copied by the London and Edinburg Medical Journal. 

In Moreland's extracts from the records of the Bos- 
ton Society for Medical Improvement, Dr. Ware pre- 



134 BRONCHITIS AXD KINDRED DISEASES. 

sents a case which is republished in Hay's Philadelphia 
Medical Journal, where a woman 34 years old. came 
under medical treatment in August. 1850. By June of 
the following year, she had no apparent symptom of 
consumptive disease, and ;; died in August. 1851, with 
all the symptoms of acute inflammation of the bladder."' 
On examining the body after death, "the lungs were 
perfectly healthy, excepting there were numerous cre- 
taceous masses, with the lungs contracted hard about 
them, no crude tubercles, no cavities," thus showing, 
that consumptive disease had existed, but that a com- 
plete cure had taken place. On this case the able 
Editor of the Journal remarks : 

" This case is interesting, from the patient dying of 
another disease, and establishing the fact of her having 
had consumption, by a post mortem examination. 
There can be no doubt that patients do recover from 
unequivocal consumptive disease, under other treat- 
ment. But it is an extremely rare thing for a person so 
reduced by tubercular disease, to so far recover. Dr. 
W. has never (before) met with an instance where there 
was not a doubt as to the character of the disease. This 
would have been an unsatisfactory case had the party 
survived." 

Dr. Gillerstedt says, in a large work on Consumption, 
published in 1847, " Cases certainly do occur where 
every symptom of tubercular disease exists, but the 
patients nevertheless recover their original health." See 
British and For. Med. Rev., 1847, p. 437. 

Drs. G. and Reynaud, p. 434, say that, " Caverns in 
the lungs, may heal in different ways, in one case, the 
parenchyma surrounding the cavern, becomes indurated ; 
in the other, it shrinks, draws together, and forms a 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 135 

long, firm, white cicatrix, or scar. The fibrous bands 
which traverse and surround the pulmonary paren- 
chyma in Phthisis compress the tissue of the lung, by 
contracting, and thus materially assist the healing of the 
excavations." 

Dr. Addison, of Guy's Hospital, London, says, " The 
natural cure of an excavation in the lungs, consists in the 
formation of a more or less permanent lining mem- 
brane, the true cicatrix of such ulcers." — lb. 1847, p. 423. 

Dr. Hancock says, " Rush, Portal, and the most judi- 
cious physicians, have constantly regarded Consumption 
as a disease of the constitution; and in the times of 
Moreton, and Sydenham, and Bennett, and others, it was 
not regarded as an incurable disease." 

The writings of Laennec, Andral, Cruveillier, Stokes, 
Williams, and others, prove that many cases of pulmo- 
nary (Consumption) have, contrary to all expectation, 
recovered ; and that, at a subsequent period, death hav- 
ing occurred from some other malady, the lungs have 
been found puckered and cicatrized from the healing of 
the tubercular cavern. The more recent researches of 
Rogee and Boudet, in Paris, and J. Hughes Bennett, in 
Edinburg, have shown, from the indiscriminate examin- 
ation in large hospitals, that puckerings, cicatrices, cre- 
taceous concretions, and other evidences of former tuber- 
cles in the lungs, occur " in at least one-third of all who 
die after the age of forty, in this climate. Facts, there- 
fore, indicate that so far from pulmonary tubercle being 
necessarily fatal, it is spontaneously cured by nature in 
a vast number of cases, and that not in a few, this is ac- 
complished even when large ulcers have been formed in 
the lungs, and all those symptoms present which are con. 
sidered evidences of so-called Consumption. 



136 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

The curability of (understanding by that term recovery 
from) phthisis pulmonalis, is a matter, therefore, which 
no longer admits of a dispute. It is a fact as certain as 
the curability of pneumonia, or the union of a fracture, 
and, like the latter, is susceptible of demonstration by 
means of well-preserved preparations. — Monthly British 
Med. Jour. 

In his " Notes of Practice," by Dr. Henry Hartshorn, 
of Philadelphia, in October 1848, in a case occurring in 
the hospital at that time, during the service of Dr. W. 
Pepper, (see Hay's Med. Journal, p. 351, October 
1848, case 4.) " A man named Evans, aged 27, ad- 
mitted in the fall of 1845. He had then all the marks 
of confirmed consumption; emaciation, hectic, night- 
sweats, debility, cavernous respiration, and dulness or 
percussion over the right lung. * * * On the 5th 
month, 4th, 1846, he leaves the house to-day in good 
case, the ulcer healed. We can consider this nothing 
else than a recovery from consumption, under circum- 
stances of the greatest disadvantage." This case is the 
more valuable, as an illustration of the curable nature 
of consumptive disease, since it comes from the hand, 
not only of a most eminent and deservedly honored 
practitioner, now gone up higher ! but of a Friend, who 
expresses himself with that moderation, and freedom 
from expletives, for which that class of persons, who 
still adhere to the faith of their fathers, are so remark- 
able, and on that account we may repose in it our most 
implicit reliance. He left the house "in good case." He 
does not say fully restored, that he left in perfect health ; 
that he never enjoyed better health in his life before, but 
simply he left in good case, which means in reasonable 
health, considering the nature of the disease. 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 187 

From the extracts which I have made, it appears that 
the greatest names in medicine, and the most respect- 
able medical journals in this country and in Great Bri- 
tain, advocate in the most confident, decided and fear- 
less manner, the curability of consumptive disease, even 
when the lungs have already begun to decay away ; it 
is therefore a moral impossibility that they should be 
wrong, and that the vulgar opinion to the contrary, 
should be nearer the truth. The error of the popular 
sentiment on the subject consists in resolutely denying 
that any given case which recovers, had consumption, 
and as pertinaciously insisting that another dying with 
similar symptoms had consumption, thus practically 
making the word "consumption" a synonym with 
" death." It is as unfair to say that a person has not 
cholera, until he is in the collapsed stage, and deduce 
that cholera is incurable, because those in the collapsed 
stage uniformly die, as it is to affirm that no person has 
consumption, until he is in its very last stages, and be- 
cause these stages uniformly end in death, that consump- 
tion is incurable. This is simply a confounding, a com- 
mingling of ideas, only possible to an uninformed mind. 
The evils which result from this untruthful popular 
view, cannot be computed, although but mainly two in 
number. 

1st, The patient is paralyzed the moment he believes 
that he has consumptive disease, and loses all the sus- 
taining influences of hope. 

2d, It being the general impression that consumption 
is incurable, there is an irresistible repugnance against 
admitting that any set of symptoms are those of phthisis ; 
every one sees it but the patient himself; like a man in 
business, however desperate may be his condition, he is 



138 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

the very last one to admit that he is a broken mer- 
chant ; it has long been understood in the street as in- 
evitable, yet the conviction is not made in his own 
mind, until the sheriff turns the key on his door. The 
practical effect of this is, to prevent a person from 
making a systematic, rational effort for the removal of 
the symptoms, while such a thing is practicable and 
probable ; at the last hour only, does he wake up to a 
sense of his real condition ; and because all remedies 
then fail, it is taken as proof additional to thousands of 
similar ones preceding it, that consumption is indeed, a 
hopelessly incurable disease. 

Another mischief, resulting from false views on the 
subject, and one too, which beyond all question, causes 
the sacrifice of thousands of valuable lives is, that per- 
sons are not unfrequently pronounced consumptive, 
when such is not the case, and thus abandon themselves 
to die, and do die, not from the effects of existing dis- 
ease, but from the depressing influences of hopelessness 
of recovery. The commonest observer must feel con- 
scious of the truth of this sentiment as applicable to dis- 
eases in general. It is a truth which has a practical 
bearing on the health and happiness, and lives of thou- 
sands. These things being so, and they cannot be 
otherwise, every man, however circumscribed may be 
his influence, commits the great crime of doing humanity 
a wrong, when he asserts that consumption is an in- 
curable disease. I call it a great crime, it is " great" to 
him, because, small though his influence be, he does all 
he can with it, he exercises all he possesses in the 
wrong direction. Most truly do I trust, that Clergy- 
men and Editors, the most widely influential professions 
by far, in our country, and long and worthily may it be 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 139 

so, will give this subject the mature and deliberate con- 
sideration which it merits, and hereafter, wholly abstain 
from the expression of adverse opinions, until they in- 
vestigate this point thoroughly, or, are willing to 
abide by the opinions of those whose proper work it is 
to examine the question, and who have, with that devo- 
tion which only a true love for science can inspire, 
given all the energies of educated minds for years and 
years together, to the study and elucidation of the 
subject. 

It is not worth the ink that would be expended, to 
hold an argument on this point with non-medical per- 
sons ; it is the most worthless of all possible efforts, to 
discuss any question with a party wholly ignorant of 
the point involved, who has given it no critical investi- 
gation, who has no views but simple impressions, a 
feeling sense, an intuitive conviction, as some express 
themselves. But there are some medical men who 
truly believe, that for a case of undoubted Consumption 
there is no cure. This proves one thing certainly, and 
only one, that they themselves have never been able to 
effect a cure in any case. 

I have before me now a book, apparently just from 
the press, but issued in 1844, containing lectures deliv- 
ered in the most celebrated medical school in the United 
States, by a gentleman of high repute, so high indeed, 
that his name gives honor to the school, without the 
school returning any to him. On pages 77 and 78, this 
gentleman makes the assertion, and gives the reason 
above stated. In 1847, one of the most worthy and 
substantial citizens of New Jersey applied to a colleague 
of this gentleman for advice in his own case, which was 
pronounced to be ' Consumption, that he could not live 



140 BRONCHITIS AXD KINDRED DISEASES. 

six months.' This patient visited me in Cincinnati the 
same year. He complained of " a pain running from 
the centre of the left breast to the inner edge of the left 
shoulder blade, half way to the point, just as if some 
one were pressing with the weight of a heavy hand, more 
or less every day; a dull, heavy, leaden-like feeling 
through the breast ; a good deal of general chilliness at 
times, feet always cold; sleep, bowels, appetite, all.irre- 
gular ; some difficulty of breathing ; cough not very 
troublesome, but a great deal of clearing of the throat, 
without bringing up much ; spitting of blood for a number 
of years in specks, mucus is sometimes stained with it ; 
palpitation, more or less an invalid for fifteen years ; 
pulse one hundred and ten in a minute, breathing six- 
teen. Conversation or reading causes an aching or pain 
in the throat, with a prickling sensation sometimes in 
swallowing, together with an unpleasant vacuum feeling ; 
for a good many years, a good deal of pain in the breast, 
and weakness in the back, pains in the head and sides ; 
a feeling of heavy weight at pit of stomach." 

My opinion of this case was, that he had not Con- 
sumption, that there was no disease of the lungs, and 
that if he did not get well, it would be his own fault. 
At the end of five years, this gentleman is busily 
engaged in active outdoor life ; winter and summer he 
gets up at five o'clock hi the morning and goes to work, 
has a good appetite, no pains, no cough, no throat feel- 
ings ; and that he ever had anything like Consumption 
is simply ridiculous, as the reader would imagine, if he 
could see him ride or work on a winter's day by early 
light, which he does, not of necessity, but choice, he 
being a substantial, independent farmer. He has no 
symptom of disease whatever, except of a dyspeptic 



TESTIMONY OF EMINENT PHYSICIANS. 141 

character, which are present or absent, according to the 
amount of food he eats. This case simply proves that 
this gentleman either had Consumption or not. If he 
had Consumption, it demonstrates its curability ; for 
now, at the age of thirty-eight, he has a regular full 
pulse of sixty-eight, breathing sixteen, weight one hun- 
dred and forty, vital capacity three hundred, height five 
feet eleven inches. If he did not have Consumption, 
then it is very certain that this distinguished practitioner 
made a great mistake. It adds to the value of this his- 
tory, that I did not know, until within two weeks past, 
that this gentleman had been consulted, or that such an 
opinion had been given. 

The truth is, the mere opinion of a medical man as to 
the curable nature of Consumption, is if possible more 
worthless than that of the non-medical, unless he has 
had frequent opportunities of examining the lungs of 
three classes of persons : 1st, those deprived of life 
while imperfect health; 2d, those who died of palpable 
Consumption; 3d, those who died of other diseases. 
Besides the usual facilities afforded to medical students 
in our own medical schools, I have had whole barrels of 
lungs of the dead at a time, in London, with the advan- 
tages of the finest pathological museum in the world, 
and I can truly say, that I have never observed a fact, 
or a specimen, which did not afford an explanation in 
accordance with the views I have presented. And the 
reader, for his own satisfaction, has simply to ask a 
question or two of any physician, old or young, who 
opposes the opinion advocated. Have you ever attend- 
ed a dozen persons, or half a dozen, who had apparently 
Consumption, and who died at the time, or years after- 
wards, and when they did die, did you open their 



142 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

bodies, and carefully examine their lungs for facts bear- 
ing on the question of the curability of common tuber- 
cular Consumption'? If they have never had such 
opportunities of observation, their testimony is nothing 
in comparison with that of several of the men I have 
given, who spent from ten to twenty-five years in exam- 
ining the lungs of the dead, with especial reference to the 
point in hand. And even if they have had the dozen 
opportunities, and have formed adverse opinions, they 
are only valuable in the proportion of a dozen to many 
thousands. 

Dr. Chapman, of Philadelphia, who thinks himself 
that while decided Consumption is not curable by any 
means now known, is forced to confess that " The annals 
of medicine of every period contain instances of entire 
cures of the disease." And that " Many are the instances 
I have known of this disease, in its early stage, entirely 
obviated." It is to direct attention to these early stages 
that this book is mainly written ; to describe plainly the 
nature, the character of the symptoms which Indicate 
this early stage, thus putting the community on their 
guard, in the hope of inducing them to act promptly, and 
by doing so, save life. 

While I have advocated the curable nature of Con- 
sumption of the lungs, in the most decided manner, I do 
not wish to be considered as adopting ultra or extrava- 
gant views of the subject. My opinion is; 

1. That at any stage, previous to the commencement 
of actual decay of the substance of the lungs, Con- 
sumption is completely and permanently and uniformly 
curable. 

2. That even after the lungs have begun to decay 



LEADING MEN NOT REFORMERS. 143 

away, the disease may be permanently arrested, but 
that such an arrest, is not of common occurrence. 

3. That when the lungs have begun to decay away, in 
any particular person, that person will most probably 
die, at no far distant day. 

4. That when such decay is present, if to a small ex- 
tent, its arrest may be striven for hopefully, but, 

5. That it is wrong to hold out high probabilities of 
recovery, and to promise it certainly, infamous ! 

6. That in all stages of the disease, up to the last day 
of life, the physician should labor resolutely, steadily 
and hopefully, for the restoration of the patient. 

But after all, I scarcely expect a revolution on this 
great question to begin with educated men. Reforms 
come from the people, and to them must we look for a 
change of opinion. 

The following are apt and authentic illustrations of 
some of the sentiments just proposed, showing that lead- 
ing men, not only do not begin reforms, but have in all 
ages of the world been its bitterest opposers, more espe- 
cially in medicine : 

" Surgery once staunched the blood, by applying boil- 
ing pitch to a wounded artery. Ambrose Pare introduc- 
ed the practice of tying the artery with a ligature ; and 
for this, the faculty hissed him to scorn, as one who 
would hang human life upon a thread. 

Antimony, which was introduced by Paracelsus, as a 
medicine, and is now generally regarded as a potent re- 
medial agent, was at first proscribed by the French par- 
liament, at the instigation of the college, and to pre- 
scribe it was made a penal offence. 

Protestant England originally regarded Peruvian 



144 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

bark as the invention of the devil, because introduced by 
J esuits, 

Dr. Groenvelt, who, in 1693, discovered the curative 
virtues of cantharides in dropsy, was committed to 
Newgate by warrant of the President of the College of 
Physicians ' for prescribing cantharides internally.' 

Lady Mary Montague, who introduced the practice of 
inoculation, was hooted at by the Doctors, and denounc 
ed from the pulpit by the ministers, as presumptuously 
taking events out of the hands of Providence. 

Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination, one of the 
greatest benefactors of the human race, was run down 
by the Eoyal College of Physicians, at London, for 
what they chose to consider his monstrous quackery ; 
and one Errham, of Frankfort, undertook to prove from 
the holy scriptures and the fathers, that vaccination was 
the real Anti-Christ ! 

Harvey lost his practice at first, and was proscribed 
from the consultations of his fellow-physicians, because 
he proclaimed the circulation of the blood. They would 
not believe that a theory which had descended from the 
wise men of Greece and Rome, could be false." 

What has been, will be again, and we must expect 
for years to come, that leading men in the community 
will be the most obstinate opposers of the doctrine, that 
Consumption can be cured ; and they, with those whom 
they influence, will be the last to derive any benefit from 
more truthful views. 

It certainly does not follow that because these names 
were on the side of truth, all who advocate new views, 
in opposition to the common sentiment, will prove also 
in the end to be on the right side : but it does follow 
that 



CLIMATE. 145 

Nothing should be opposed simply because it is new. 

Nothing should be rejected without an investigation 
adequate to the importance of the subject. 

Contempt proves nothing. 

In fact it is too much the tendency of the times to 
summarily reject what conflicts with long held opinions. 
The people seem to be averse to investigation. Ideas 
are not palatable, unless they are made to be comprehend- 
ed at a glance. What requires severe study, patient re- 
search, and thoughtful discrimination, is too often dis- 
posed of by the immense saying, It's a Humbug. Such 
was the designation applied to the first golden stories 
from California, and yet they have been realized. Such 
was the epithet more recently given to the value of the 
quartz formations of that country, the same to the mag- 
nificent project of the Pacific railway, and yet the quartz 
formations are as valuable as was at first claimed, and 
the Pacific railroad will be built. 

Within the writer's recollection, the Morse telegraph 
was declared an impracticability, and was even in Con- 
gress simply laughed at, and yet it has already become 
a glory of the age, and given immortal honor to the man. 

CLIMATE. 

Almost every one admits, that a mild southern clime 
is beyond all question, the best calculated to promote 
the recovery of persons who have consumptive disease, 
or are falling into it. In all that I have written on the 
subject for the last 10 years, this opinion has been op- 
posed, and I am constantly receiving additional proofs 
of the fact, that a warm climate, aggravates consump- 
tion in all its stages, hastening a fatal termination, and 
that the best possible latitude for the prevention, arrest, 

7 



146 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

and permanent cure of the disease, is that which affords 
a cool, still, dry air. 

It is then a great mistake, that the " South" is favor- 
able to consumptive constitutions; the climate is too 
foggy, too damp, too wet; too much at one time of suf- 
focative sultriness ; at another, too much of piercing 
cold winds after the frequent rains. The changes of the 
weather are too great and sudden, often forty degrees in 
half a day. It is frequently too cold ; for the universal 
dampness of the atmosphere in winter, continued more 
or less throughout the twenty -four hours, abstracts more 
vital heat from the system, especially when there is 
wind, than a still atmosphere of a temperature many 
degrees lower, without imparting the bracing and life- 
giving influences of a clear, dry, frosty air, and to such, 
a consumptive should repair, if he leaves home at all. 
One of the most eminent of British authors in reference 
to this subject, says : " The advantages of breathing 
warm air in consumption is very much overrated, as it 
runs its course rapidly in Italy or any warmer climate." 
Such is the experience of Azarel and others ; and that 
the " deception has arisen, from persons not really con- 
sumptive, being sent to warm climates, who have, from 
the comparatively trifling nature of their ailment, re- 
turned cured, if not worse. In some of these cases, er- 
roneously called consumption, the progress of the dis- 
ease is said to have been checked, by the influence of the 
milder climate. This popular prejudice has still, how- 
ever, a strong hold on the minds of men, but for all that, 
it is unnecessary, and generally worse than useless to 
send patients away from their friends, and often at an 
enormous expense, which in very many instances they 
are not at all able to bear, and under the circumstances, 



CLIMATE. 147 

the recommendation is a cruelty, unless a striking benefit 
is a certainty. Dr. Chevane says: "If they are con- 
sumptive they will thus die in exile, and if not, they 
may be cured at home : of this, there are many marble 
records in the West Indies, Madeira, Leghorn, the South 
of France, Paris, Florida, and Louisiana ; can anything 
then be more absurd or cruel ? If there be any disease 
which requires the comforts of home and good nursing, it 
is consumption." 

I resided for eight consecutive winters in the South, 
besides spending a considerable time among the islands 
of the Gulf of Mexico, watching the progress of the dis- 
ease in those affected, and receiving statements from the 
lips of educated persons, year after year, as to their own 
experiences ; in addition to this, I have had the opinion 
of a class of men who travel and observe for themselves, 
and from these observations form their opinions, matter 
of fact men, on whom the mere belief of others has no 
influence. In the same direction is the very general 
sentiment of eminent Southern practitioners. And taken 
altogether, the testimony from these and other sources 
is overwhelming, that " the South is no place for a person 
having consumption." 

It is an easy thing to say that a person has consump. 
tion, and advise him to "go to the South," to some 
milder clime, far away from all the endearments of 
home and kindred, but too often is it to die there. If 
one must die, home is the best place to die at, and there 
should the consumptive be sent, if sent anywhere. It 
is a terrible thing to die among strangers. In the suf- 
ferings of cheerless days and weary nights, to have no 
friendly look, no kindly smile, no tone of tenderness to 
go down with you into the darkness of the tomb. In- 



148 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

stead of a mother's angel ministerings, to extract from 
voracious hirelings, their impatient attentions ; no sleep- 
less anticipations of a thousand little wants, no look, 
nor tear of sympathy. I have sat by the bed-side of 
the " stranger" alone, in the weary hours of midnight, 
and closed his eyes in the long sleep which knows no 
awaking, for no one seemed to care how or when he 
entered on the unending journey. " Can I live to see 
my mother once more?" said a young gentleman on his 
way to one of the West India Islands. " No, my friend," 
said I. " Well, it is hard, I did not think I was so near 
the grave." And yet he had left mother and sister, and 
a home which commanded every comfort, many hundred 
miles behind him. 

A worthy and respectable gentleman from Ohio, ar- 
rived in New Orleans, on his way to one of the islands 
of the Gulf, for the benefit of his health, having left be- 
hind a young wife and child. He consulted me merely 
for the purpose of enabling him to continue his journey. 
" My dear sir, you are not able to leave your room, and 
probably will not be." " Write to my wife, then, and 
tell her to come to me and bring our child along." 
He died that night. These cases are given to show, that 
if a man is so far gone with the general symptoms of 
consumption, that his physician can do no more than 
advise him to go to sea, or to a milder climate, he is 
too far gone to recover his health by any such inde- 
finite and hap-hazard prescription. And under such cir- 
cumstances, the only possible chance for getting better, 
is to remain at home, where he can have every comfort 
and every attention which affection can bestow. If with 
all these little, but essential aids, he does not improve, 
he cannot expect to be restored, w T hen subject to the in- 



CLIMATE. 149 

numerable discomforts and exposures inseparable from 
invalid journeying, to say nothing of the hourly and irri 
tating annoyances which always accompany hired atten- 
tions, while the only counteracting influence to all these, 
is a milder climate. The great John Hunter very sar- 
castically observes of London physicians, in his day, 
" They keep their patients, as long as they can, and then 
send them away to other places to die." I will here 
state one fact, of a thousand like it occurring yearly, 
which every consumptive, by which I mean any person 
w r ho has had for some time, any one serious symptom 
of Consumption, should give the most candid and ma- 
ture consideration, before he decides leaving home and 
friends and country. Several years ago, while at Ma- 
tanzas de Cuba, on a visit from Havana, I frequently 
went down to the wharf early in the morning and in the 
cool of the afternoon, but seldom went at any hour, 
without seeing a young man at the farthest extremity 
of one of the piers intently gazing seaward ; he seemed 
to notice nothing of all the busy bustle and merry song 
of the workmen about him. I sometimes endeavored to 
catch a glimpse of some object on the distant sea, but 
whether I observed any thing or not, he appeared to 
feast on the very nothingness, with so fixed a look, and 
yet so mild and gentle, . so full of melancholy, that I at 
length became interested in his history ; it was this : he 
was from Boston, had had a bad cough for some time, 
which had begun to undermine his health before he left 
home. He had heard a great deal of the refreshing 
breezes of Cuba, its orange groves and its flowers, its 
spicy odors and its eternal spring, and felt assured that 
if he could only get there, his return to health would be 
speedy and perfect. But after a few clays, he began to 



150 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

discover that there was no charmed influence in a Cuban 
atmosphere, that he was not perceptibly better, but 
rather growing weaker, and was reluctantly releasing 
his hold on the last cherished hopes of life. His only 
expectation now, his highest wish was, that he might see 
home once more, and have his mother beside him when 
he died. " I am willing to die," he used to say to me, 
" if I could only die at home !" He was expecting a 
vessel every day, and as day after day passed by, and 
it did not arrive, he used to beguile his weary hours by 
looking in the direction of his own loved Boston — it was 
all that he could do. Whether he ever saw it again, I 
never learned. And it cannot be denied, that such is 
the too frequent history of those who visit the islands in 
the hope of removing Consumptive symptoms. They 
indulge in the most extravagant anticipations of rapidly 
regaining health, of soon returning to the loved behind 
them, with the rosy cheeks and the freshness and 
strength of youth, and begin in advance, to drink in the 
fond congratulations which they will receive from kind 
hearts at home. But when day passes day, yet brings 
to them no life-giving influences ; and one by one their 
fond imaginings fade in the distance ; when the unwel- 
come reality forces itself upon their attention, that they 
are homeless, friendless, sick and sinking, among stran- 
gers in a strange land, hope sinks within them, and all 
is over. When such is the history of some hundreds 
every winter, I cannot conceive of any adequate cause 
for that infatuation which repeats ceaselessly from year 
to year in reference to Consumption, " you must go to 
a milder climate." 

Dr. Armstrong, an English author and lecturer, in a 
celebrated medical school, says, in reference to this same 



CLIMATE. 151 

subject, " with regard to climate, I thought favorably of 
a change some time ago ; but so many appalling facts 
have come to my knowledge, that I have been induced 
to change my mind. If Consumption be threatened, the 
patient has the best chance at home. If he be in threat- 
ened Consumption, to remove him from his friends, is to 
wrench him from all the affections which have held him 
from the time of his birth; and no man can bear this, 
without receiving a shock which may be exceedingly in- 
jurious. Besides which, the fatigue of travelling, the 
risk of cold, the worry and bustle of inns, the diet, 
which becomes in some measure dependent upon chance, 
on the road, the danger of damp beds, and the necessity 
of changing the abode at different seasons of the year, 
must all be taken into the account: they more than 
counterbalance the good which might arise from a less 
variable climate ; and many persons, who have left this 
country in a state of threatened Consumption, have re- 
turned with confirmed phthisis." 

When a person is determined that he will go from 
home, if he can possibly get away, my advice is " go 
north." I know very well it requires a generation to 
dislodge what " everybody believes." But if the reader 
will think awhile, without prejudice, he will discover 
that cold air is purer than a warmer one, that under 
equal circumstances, the more pure air a man consumes, 
the better health he will enjoy ; that the larger amount 
of lungs a man has, the more air he can consume; much 
more then has the Consumptive, whose disease is a de- 
ficiency, in quantity and action, of lung substance, an 
urgent need for the largest amount of pure air. If you 
shut a Consumptive man up in a warm room, he never 
will get well. A uniform, cool, dry atmosphere, away 



152 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

from piercing winds, is infinitely preferable to Cuba, or 
any other latitude south of the thirtieth parallel. A 
Consumptive will sooner get well in Greenland, quali- 
fied as above, than in the South. 

If a man is really Consumptive, a warmer climate 
will inevitably hasten his death; and it is wonderful, 
that it continues to be the stereotyped advice given by 
Northern medical and non-medical men, without the 
slightest consideration of the ability of the patient to 
meet the expenses of such a journey ; and more, without 
any opportunity of personally observing, on the spot, 
whether such advice is for life or death. Having been 
alone in these views for some years, I feel not a little 
gratified, in inserting here a letter to the New York 
Observer, by one who seems to have formed his opinions 
from what he saw, and appears to have taken a common 
sense view of the subject, not being himself a physician. 

STAT AT HOME TO DIE. 

New Orleans, March 21, 1851. 
The climate of New Orleans, owing to the position of 
the city, and particularly during the winter months, is 
damp and exceedingly variable, the same weather sel- 
dom remaining unchanged in winter for more than three 
days. Since the 12th of December, the thermometer 
has not fallen below the freezing point, but the range 
above that has often been very great within a few hours. 
Indeed I have never known more sudden or greater 
changes in any climate, than I have experienced here. 
I speak of the climate simply to discharge a duty, in 
saying that this is not the place for invalids to resort to 
in quest of health during the winter months, and parti- 
cularly for those who are suffering from pulmonary dis- 



STAT AT HOME TO DIE. 153 

ease. Some classes of invalids may be benefited by a 
residence here, and those whose lungs are but slightly 
affected, are frequently relieved, or entirely restored, by 
spending a winter in New Orleans ; but where disease 
of this nature has become serious, and particularly in its 
more advanced stages, the climate of this region has a 
decided tendency to precipitate a fatal termination. I 
have known many, who came here with the hope of 
having a radical cure effected, whose disease has been 
aggravated by the change, and in some cases death has 
hurried them to the tomb precipitately. The climate is 
not only damp, but relaxing to the system, and there is 
such a tendency to diarrhoea, particularly in the use of 
the river water, that consumptive persons, having this 
latter tendency already fastened upon them by disease, 
are liable to run immediately down. In this opinion of 
the influence of this climate upon those who are suffering 
from pulmonary complaints, particularly from the Con- 
sumption, I am confirmed by the views of many of the 
ablest physicians resident here, and I feel, that I am but 
performing an act of humanity in expressing it. 

In my sojourn here, I have met with so many sad 
cases of those who are sick and suffering, far away not 
only from the endearments, but also from the comforts 
of home, that I am more and more confirmed in the 
opinion that I have long entertained, that it is far better, 
as a general thing, for advanced invalids to remain at 
home, than to wander away, and be sick, and perhaps to 
die among strangers. Many are the couches by which 
I have stood this winter, in the discharge of ministerial 
duty, when the patients have sighed with bitter tears for 
a mother's heart, and a sister's hand to be near them, 

and where the only request of an earthly nature they 

»7* 



154 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

have desired me to make in prayer for them has been, 
that they might live to reach home. I have always ad- 
mired, from my heart, the beauty of the Eastern saluta- 
tion, " May you die among your kindred" but I have 
never known so much of its beauty as now. It is true, 
heaven is as near to one place as another, and if we are 
prepared to enter it through the grace of our Redeemer, 
when once the last scene is o'er, it matters little to one 
who is gone, where, or in what circumstances, the last 
agony was endured ; but there is much suffering before 
this hour arrives, and it leaves a lasting and bitter re- 
gret in the hearts of surviving friends, that they were 
able to do nothing to cheer the last hours of those who 
have been tenderly beloved. Unless there is a very 
strong ground to hope for actual restoration by a change 
of climate, I would advise any actually suffering invalid 
to remain at home. It has comforts, and palliatives, 
and anodynes, which are not to be found among strangers, 
in the most genial clime on earth. 

Yours very truly, — 

Under all circumstances, the colder out door air is, 
the purer it is, and other things being equal, the more 
healthful it must be. During the year (1850) there was 
one death for every sixty persons in Maryland, one for 
every sixty-six in New York, and one for every seventy- 
seven in Maine, one to one hundred in Vermont. 

A clergyman under my care a short time, for some 
throat affection, with cough and pains in the breast, 
wrote to me that he felt himself almost entirely well ; 
but to make assurance doubly sure, and also for the 
pleasure of a winter in the South, he left home, and 
w'thin a month has written to me from a Southern city 



CLIMATE. 1 55 

saying, " I have been here six weeks, and in consequence 
of the wet weather, want of exercise and a suitable diet, 
I regret to say that my throat does not feel as well as 
when I left home." And it is precisely this " wet 
weather, want of suitable food, and opportunity for ex- 
ercise" that will meet the invalid wherever he goes, to 
say nothing of comfortless rooms, nights disturbed by 
musquitoes and sand flies, the long sultry days; the 
weeks of fogs and damps and rains, houses seldom plas- 
tered, sometimes without windows, often without fire- 
places, meeting with invalids at every turn, worse than 
yourself, herded together from two to six, or more, in a 
room, no wife, no sister, no brother, no friend, to inter- 
rupt the unmitigated misery, all this is to iny mind 
very disagreeable to think of, and it is worse by far to 
witness it, as I have done ; but to experience it all in a 
distant land, makes up an amount of suffering which I 
cannot adequately describe, unless it be in the language 
of a gentleman of fortune, who having made a large 
offer for some trifling comfort, without being able to get 
it, bitterly exclaimed, " I could not wish the worst 
enemy J have on earth, a greater curse, than to be sick 
in such a place as this." The next day he died, and 
this was at the seat of the State Government. 

I have never been an invalid in the South or anywhere 
else, but in travelling, have seen all that I have uttered ; 
and it is in every word, a picture of the reality as to the 
majority of the sick who seek a milder climate. And if 
any thing I have said in these pages shall have the effect 
to prevent one Consumptive from leaving home, to 
tempt the terrors of the sunny South, I will feel highly 
gratified. 



156 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

One year ago, a merchant, M. M., from a northern 
city, applied to me ; his general symptoms were pains 
between the shoulders, oppression in the breast, difficulty 
of breathing, considerable emaciation, pains in the side, 
great chilliness, tickling cough, and of a Consumptive 
family. I heard nothing of him for twelve months, when 
I received a letter from him saying, " My general health 
and appetite are good, and I believe every thing like a 
tendency to Consumption, is removed." This was a 
case where the symptoms had been gradually becoming 
more aggravated for two years, and when in addition 
to this, it is remembered that several members of his 
family had died of the disease, it should be regarded as 
a beautiful illustration of the facility with which persons 
may relieve themselves of suspicious and threatening 
symptoms, even though of a hereditary character, while 
remaining in the North. And it is in contemplation of 
cases like this, that the happy effects of a proper 
plan of treatment are seen, in restoring the health or 
protracting the lives of the suffering, without tearing 
them away from the sustaining influence of home and 
kindred. 

In official reports to the British Parliament, it is stated 
that soldiers who leave England in good health, for the 
West Indies, oftener die with Consumption than if they 
had remained at home. That the number of soldiers 
attacked with Consumption in England, is just one half 
the number attacked in Jamaica and other English 
islands. The same principle holds good in the Mediter- 
ranean stations, yet to a less extent. 

In London, two hundred and thirty-six persons out of 
a thousand die of Consumption, in Sweden, only sixty- 
three, although six hundred miles farther North. The 



CLIMATE. 157 

number of persons who suffer from Consumption in the 
rude and ice-bound regions of Russia, is incomparably 
smaller than in Great Britain, as far as reports are 
given. 

In Canada, but half as many soldiers as in the West 
Indies, are attacked with Consumption, and fewer than 
in Great Britain. 

In statistics of the United States army, Consumption 
is more fatal along the southern Atlantic coast, than on 
the northern. On the northern Atlantic and lake posts, 
nine men in a thousand have Consumption, at the south- 
ern Atlantic posts, thirteen. It is stated that the British 
government send Consumptive soldiers from the West 
Indies to Canada, from the conviction that they are more 
likely to recover. 

A Consumptive person has a less amount of lungs, 
therefore consumes a less amount of air, that is, a less 
bulk, than is needed for the wants of the system. The 
warmer air is, the less nourishment does it contain, hence 
a pint of cold air contains more nutriment than a pint of 
warm air, and inasmuch as the Consumptive is already 
living on short allowance, the more need that every inch 
he does consume, should be such as will afford him the 
largest amount of nutriment. But there is another con- 
sideration of equal importance : warmth dissolves sub- 
stances, decayed wood, vegetables, grass, offal of every 
description, which rises up and fills the air, impregnates 
it, each filthy particle takes up so much room ; where it 
is, air cannot be, so that on this account also, there is 
less substance in a cubic inch of warm air, than in a 
cubic inch of cold. The reflecting reader will make the 
application for himself. 



158 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



SEA-SHORE. 

There is a general impression that there is something 
refreshing and health-giving in the pure air of the sea- 
shore. It does give, when uncombined with the ' land- 
cough ' air from the shore, health and vigor to those who 
are already well and strong, but it uniformly aggravates 
consumptive symptoms, and hastens death. There can 
scarcely be selected a more dangerous location for per- 
sons threatened with Consumption, or having it already, 
than one on the sea-coast, or the shores of a lake, or 
on the borders of a prairie. A person threatened with 
Consumption will have it fixed by a coast situation, and 
throat affections are uniformly aggravated thereby. The 
reason for this is> not that the air is not pure, but be- 
cause it is for a great part of the year too damp and 
raw, and the wind which blows more or less every day 
of the year, carries the vital heat from the body with 
too great rapidity, and leaves the person chilly ; on the 
same principle precisely, that when it is desired to cool 
anything we blow upon it. The universal symptom of 
persons who have Consumption, or are falling into it, is, 
that they are chilly, it is hard to keep them warm, they 
hover around the fire, or bundle themselves up in padded 
clothing or blankets ; and to go where constant breezes 
are passing over the body, and carry away the remnant 
of vital heat that remains, cannot but be fatal in its 
results. Several cases have recently occurred within 
my notice, where persons who went to our fashionable 
sea-shore summer resorts in reasonable health, came 
away with a fatal disease; and many there are who 
have come away worse than when they went. I am 



SEA-VOYAGES. 159 

confining my remarks to affections of the throat and 
lungs ; therefore, 

The farther consumptive persons can get from the lake 
or sea-shore or prairies, the better for them. The statis- 
tics of the U. S. Army show that while eleven soldiers out 
of a thousand die of Consumption on the Atlantic and 
lake coasts, only five die at the forts stationed away from 
the sea or lake shore. It requires a fact and a theory 
in unison to make a truth, and on such a truth can our 
practice, our habits of life, safely rest. 

SEA VOYAGES, 

In a vast number of cases, hurry consumptive people to 
the grave. Doubtless many who go to sea regain their 
health, who in some respects appeared to have Consump- 
tion, but it will be a rare exception, if the reader can 
bring to his remembrance a single instance of a person 
deriving any material lasting benefit from a passenger 
sea voyage, who had the following general symptoms 
of actual or threatened Consumption : a constant dry 
hacking cough, with a decrease of flesh and strength 
and breath, of six, eight, or ten months' continuance. If 
the reader can remember such an instance, he will pro- 
mote the cause of truth and science by communicating 
it in a letter to my address, and at my expense. 

When persons then inquire if I would advise a sea 
voyage in a case of actual Consumption, I reply in the 
negative, for it oftener aids to kill than cure. Those 
who have tried it for the removal of consumptive symp 
toms, have so often assured me of its inadequacy, that 
although once an advocate for it, I have been compelled 
to abandon it from the multitude of strong facts against 
the practice. Many seem surprised that I should not 



160 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

be in favor of breathing the fresh air as it came from 
the ocean, and begin with great energy to reason about 
its purity, and to theorize about its freshness and bracing 
nature. Those who love argument, too often seek for 
victory and not information; and I have generally found 
that men are oftener reasoned into their opinions than 
out of them. As for theories, I am afraid of them. 
They all appear plausible enough, until you come to 
look at the items which compose them. It constantly 
happens that a theory is proposed, criticised, abused, 
pruned, trimmed, embraced, defended, fought, and died 
for ; when some new fact is brought to light, sweep- 
ing away its broad foundations, ■ and in a few years 
afterwards we can scarcely persuade ourselves to believe 
so great an absurdity ever had an advocate. Revolu- 
tions like these are constantly going on in every depart- 
ment of human knowledge, and he perhaps is the wisest 
who keeps himself unwedded, and follows without 
reluctance wherever well authenticated whole facts may 
lead him. 

But to return to the benefit of the pure ocean air in 
tubercular disease. I have elsewhere declared with suf- 
ficient plainness, that without a large and frequent sup- 
ply of fresh air, no Consumptive person ever did get 
well — nor ever will. But I have travelled many thou- 
sands of miles, in all kinds of sea craft, for months at a 
time, and have never yet found fresh air on any ship 
that ever floated, unless in the main top, and invalids do 
not often mount such places. I do not mean to say that 
there is no pure air at sea ; but I do assert, that invalid 
passengers never get enough of it to do them any mate- 
rial good. Let any ship traveller look at the items of a 
voyage. You are in the cabin while you eat sleep and 



SEA-VOYAGES. 161 

lounge, which, at the very lowest calculation, is twelve 
hours, supposing the weather ever so favorable. But 
how many clays in a month is it suitable weather for an 
invalid to be on deck in any latitude 1 Three-fourths of 
the time it is too hot, or too cold, or windy, or rainy, 
and were it neither of these, every morning, as regular 
as the morning comes, the decks are too damp for an in- 
valid to stand or walk on, until a long time after break- 
fast ; and thus the freshest and loveliest part of the day 
is lost. As for taking exercise, it is a thing almost im- 
practicable ; for in the first place, there is no time ; and 
if there were, there is no place ; and were there both 
time and place, you cannot do it to any serviceable ex- 
tent ; for if the weather is fine, the greater part of the 
deck is occupied by the men repairing the sails or other 
rigging ; and if the weather is foul, you do not want to 
be there. It is true that passengers have the privilege 
of the quarter deck, but I do not consider that much 
better than walking around a tub, bottom upwards. 
There is only one conceivable way by which a Consump- 
tive person can be benefited by a sea voyage, and that 
is by performing sailor's duty, and living on sailor's 
fare, regardless of weather, taking it as it comes ; mak- 
ing it, however, an indispensable consideration, to have 
full, regular uninterrupted sleep, dry and warm, and 
never go below decks. But as not one Consumptive in 
a million would have energy enough to undertake such 
a means of cure, it is not worth while to recommend it. 
Nor is a residence on the coast any better, because all 
coast situations are subject to sudden and piercing cold 
winds, producing chills, colds and pleurisies — counter- 
acting in an hour, the benefit of a whole week's judicious 
nursing. A cool, dry, still atmosphere, is the grand de- 



162 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

sideratum for a Consumptive, and to secure this, should 
be his only inducement to leave home for any length of 
time ; and when by suitable remedies, in careful and 
experienced hands, the system is first placed, and then 
kept in a condition to derive the greatest advantages 
from these circumstances, the restoration to health and 
life and friends, will be with great uniformity, speedy, 
regular, perfect and permanent, under suitable modifi- 
cations. 

Dr. Chapman, whose name is authority anywhere, 
said, nearly twenty years ago, that he had ceased to 
advise Consumptive persons to go south, from various 
considerations, want of adaptedness, want of accommo- 
dations suitable, indispensable. He says, " The coldness 
of a climate is not necessarily adverse to the Consump- 
tive, neither promoting its development nor hastening its 
career, as proved by the limited prevalence of the dis- 
ease in the extreme north, of Europe." 

If then consumptive disease is not as prevalent in 
northern latitudes as in southern ; is incomparably less 
in the rude climate of northern Russia, in proportion to 
population, than in Great Britain, in Italy, in North 
America ; and if England sends her consumptive soldiers 
from the West India stations, to recover their health in 
Canada, it is very conclusive of the fact, that the preva- 
lent opinion which sends consumptive persons indiscrimi- 
nately to the south, is not merely an error, it is a fault, 
and one which involves the sacrifice of health and life. 
The subject demands the mature investigation of aJ 
intelligent minds. 

Two lawyers visited New Orleans several years ago ; 
both had Consumption unquestionably ; one aged twenty- 
two, the other about thirty -five. The younger was able 



SEA-VOYAGES. 163 

to walk about very conveniently, and had no particular 
symptom except an unfavorable pulse, frequent fevers, 
and a constant, distressing dry cough ; these he had been 
troubled with for several months; both parents remark- 
ably healthy and well made. The elder had been an 
invalid for several years, cough, vomitings, night sweats, 
spitting blood ; sometimes blood and matter together ; 
at other times a heavy yellow matter, to the amount of 
a quarter of a pint in twenty-four hours ; his clothes 
hung on him like bags, and he was too weak to walk a 
hundred yards. They being friends, held a consultation 
whether to apply to me or not. It was at length decided 
that the younger, as he was stronger and better, should 
go to Havana, especially as he wanted to see the coun- 
try; the elder came to me, remained a few days, 
returned home, closely followed my directions for three 
months, and has not had better health for many years 
than he enjoyed two years after. The younger went to 
Cuba, remained three months, returned home and died. 
I know that one fact proves nothing in medicine, but simi- 
lar cases are constantly occurring, and force upon the 
most unwilling mind the conviction of the truth of the 
views advocated. 

There can be no doubt that those who do not practice 
exclusively in consumptive diseases, do frequently pro- 
nounce persons to have Consumption, which there is no 
hope of curing, unless by removal to a milder climate, 
however inconvenient or impossible such a removal may 
be, when, upon examination by a more competent and 
experienced practitioner, no proper foundation for such 
an opinion existed, as subsequent and speedy restoration 
to perfect health, by means not intended to reach the 
lungs, most conclusively demonstrated. The mischievous 



164 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

and cruel effects of an opinion so erroneously formed, 
can scarcely be imagined ; and doubtless, by its despair- 
ing influences on the mind, has hurried many a one to 
the grave, who else might have lived in happiness many 
years. 

Dr. Dujat says that he saw as many cases of Con- 
sumption in the Hospital at Rio Janeiro, as in those 
of Paris. Sir James Clark declares, " though the climate 
of Madeira may be very beneficial to the consumptives 
of other countries, there is no disease more frequent 
than Phthisis among the native inhabitants." A resi- 
dent physician in Madeira says that " of nineteen cases 
of persons in the advanced stages of Consumption under 
his care, not a single one recovered, every one died." 

And yet Madeira, by common consent on the part of 
those who advocate a milder climate for consumptives, is 
generally considered the most favorable in the world to 
those suffering from Phthisis. As for Italian skies 
and their health-giving influences, Louis says he has 
" seen entire wards of consumptives at Naples." And 
if the statement of Dr. Giovanni be true, that in the 
Military Hospital at Capua he cured two hundred and 
sixteen cases of Consumption in less than four years, it 
either must be a very curable disease, or of very com- 
mon occurrence in that delightful clime. 

The truth is, that the idea of benefiting consumptive 
persons by sending them to a milder climate, is becom- 
ing an obsolete idea, at least among medical men of 
learning and of wide and long experience; and the hope 
is, that the day is not far distant when it will be as to 
all classes, among the things that were. If it was simply 
not hurtful, neither beneficial nor injurious, the question 
might have remained undisturbed in these pages j but it 



SEA-VOYAGES. 165 

has been discussed for the sake of our common human- 
ity, because the amount of pecuniary embarrassment, 
of social deprivations, of physical discomfort, of bodily 
pain, of mental sufferings and disquietudes, and of cease- 
less unavailing longings to the last hour of life, to be 
permitted to see home once more, which it has entailed, 
is beyond calculation. They only can have any ade- 
quate conception of it who, like myself, have lived for 
so many years in the " sunny south," and for myself 
have seen of what I write. Sunny and beautiful indeed 
to those who have health, and time and money without 
stint, but not to the weak and worn and weary invalid. 

If a person is in the beginning of consumptive disease, 
he can get well without going to the south ; if he is 
in the advanced stages — and it is not until in these ad- 
vanced stages that there is any idea of going anywhere — 
why then going to the south will most certainly hasten 
a fatal termination, and of this southern physicians of 
distinction have, as a public warning, given wide and 
willing testimony. 

It will not answer to form adverse opinions from iso- 
lated cases of persons appearing to be in a decline, who 
went south and returned improved. The first step to be 
taken is, to know certainly, of any particular case, that 
it was Consumption previous to the journey ; to know 
it, not from an impression, but by all the means of care- 
ful medical examination. Let any reader, who is that 
much interested in the well being of humanity, take the 
trouble to inform me of a single case coming under his 
own observation, of the following character : A person 
having a night and morning cough, as steadily as the 
night and morning come ; decided tiredness or shortness 
of breath on going up stairs, or walking a little fast up 



166 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

a gently inclined road, who has been steadily declining 
in flesh for twelve months or more ; who has during the 
whole day, from the time of his rising in the morning 
until he retires at night, a pulse always above ninety-one 
beats in a minute ; if such a person has gone to the 
south, and returns with a pulse of seventy, with no night 
or morning cough, weighing as much as he did in ordi- 
nary health, and feels no special fatigue, or difficulty of 
breathing, viz. no shortness of breath in walking a little 
fast up a gently rising ground, then will I admit that 
such a person had Consumption, and by going to the 
south was cured. 

All I desire is to get facts, whole facts, so as to arrive 
at a great practical truth ; one which is to influence the 
health of millions living now, of millions yet unborn. 
And if the reader has such a fact in his possession, he 
may become a co-worker, in advancing the highest inter- 
est of his kind, by communicating it to my address. On 
the other hand, those who advise a Consumptive to go 
to a more southern clime than his own, for the purpose 
of regaining his health, without having investigated the 
subject critically, and without having numerous facts to 
ground that advice upon, such an one should pause a 
moment, and consider whether he is not possibly short 
ening the life, which he desires to prolong, whether he is 
not extinguishing the last hope of health. What I de- 
sire is, that every adviser, should advise knowingly, and 
feel ever, that a holy human life is at stake. 

SPIROMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS. 

Shortness of breath is a universal attendant on Con- 
sumptive disease. Spirometry is the measurement of 
the breath. Allusion has already been made to this 



SPIROMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS. 167 

subject on page 83. Several difficulties will at once pre- 
sent themselves to the reflecting reader, viz. : 

To know how much air a person's lungs should hold, or 
will expire, when in perfect health, and in full working 
order. 

To know how to make an exact measurement. 
To know some principle applicable to the fact, that 
different persons must hold different amounts of air. 

It is sufficient to say that these things are known to 
the medical profession, and that they only are able to ap- 
ply the principles involved, in a manner practicable, use- 
ful and reliable. I propose to offer some illustrations 
as to these points. The cases will be designated by 
numbers for convenience of reference hereafter ; all of 
them have been measured by myself, and were recorded 
at the time. 

863. Had lost five-tenths of her lung measurement, 
and died in twelve days. 

883. Had lost five-tenths, and died in eight months. 

890. Had lost four-tenths, and died in two months. 

908. Had lost two-tenths, and died in six months. 

919. Had lost four-tenths, and died in two weeks. 

923. Had lost four-tenths, and died in two weeks. 

932. Had lost six-tenths, and died in two weeks. 

938. Had lost four-tenths, and died in four months. 

996. Had lost three-tenths, and died in three months. 

997. Had lost three-tenths, and died in four months. 

1013. Had lost three-tenths, and died in three months. 

1014. Had lost three-tenths, and died in two months. 
I have thus given twelve consecutively fatal, measured 

cases, occuring during twelve consecutive months, known 
to have died from direct observation or information, by 
which it will be seen, that persons having Consumptive 



1(>8 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

symptoms, and who had lost the use of three-tenths of 
the lungs or more, died in four months ; three only hav- 
ing lived longer. 

It will be seen that some, for example 883, with a 
loss of the use of five-tenths, which is one-half, lived 
eight months, while 908 with a loss of two-tenths, or 
one-fifth only, lived but six months, and 919, with a loss 
of four-tenths, or two-fifths, lived only two weeks ; this 
difference arises from the fact, that the loss of measure- 
ment, in all cases, arises from two causes ; 1st, the loss 
of lung substance ; 2d, the loss of lung function only ; the 
greater the loss from the loss of lung substance, the sooner 
the patient dies ; but vice versa, when the greater portion 
of the loss is, not because the lungs have decayed away, 
but because they work imperfectly from being filled up 
with matter, or mucus, or tubercles, or from mere inac- 
tion. Auscultation must decide what proportions of the 
deficit is attributable to the respective causes, and from 
that, we must judge as to the probable time of termina- 
tion. When the deficiency is small, the lungs cannot 
have decayed away to any critically hurtful extent. 

When the deficiency is larger, much larger, and aus- 
cultation shows no decay, no actual loss of lung sub- 
stance, there is encouraging ground for restoration, if 
prompt and persevering attention is given to appropriate 
means. And it will be more satisfactory to the reader, 
for me to go back several years, and coupling this with 
the fact that the persons are still alive, in good health, and 
not needing medical advice, assurance may be felt that 
the restoration of the lungs to their full and perfect 
action, was a substantial, a real, a permanent restoration. 

391. Nov. 24, '47. Deficiency from full measurement 
one-tenth. 



SPIROMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS. 169 

March 11, '48. Dismissed cured with full measure- 
ment, and four years after remains well as far as 1 know. 
407. Dec. 18, '47. Deficiency two-tenths. 

Jan. 14, '48. Fully restored, and known to be 
in good health four years after. 

407. S. Dec. 18, '47. Deficiency three-tenths. 

April 17, '48. Deficiency nearly restored, and 
enjoyed a good degree of health for three years after, 
since when I have lost sight of this case. 

410. Dec. 24, '47. A small deficiency, which was 
soon repaired, and four years' after was in good health ; 
since lost sight of. 

414. Jan. 4, '48. Deficiency three-tenths, pulse 120. 
March 22. Restored within a fraction, pulse 72, 
was dismissed as cured ; since lost sight of. 

419. Jan. 4, '48. Deficiency one-tenth, pulse 100. 

Feb. 18. Fully restored, pulse 76, was in good 
health four years after ; since lost sight of 
421. Jan. 9, '48. Deficiency four-tenths. 

April 3. Deficiency two-tenths, and still decreas- 
ing, when he had to rejoin his family ; a year or two 
after he wrote to me that he was working on his farm, 
and his health continued reasonably good. 
432. Jan. 29, '48. Deficiency two-tenths. 

May 1. Fully repaired, since when I have heard 
nothing of this case. 

453. Feb. 17, '48. Deficiency one-tenth. 

March 29. Fully restored, and four years after 
in good health. 

461. March 2, '48. Deficiency one-tenth. 

July 28. Fully restored, and remained in good 
health four years after. 



8 



170 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

463. March 4, '48. Deficiency one-tenth. 

April 2. Fully restored, and remained well four 
years after. 

469. March 9, '48. Deficiency three-tenths. This case 
returned home at once, and from the fact that he was 
occupying a responsible government office four years 
after, it is reasonable to infer that the deficiency has "been 
made up, in whole or in great part. 

The object in these pages is to arrive at truthful views, 
if possible ; there is no wish to stretch or bend facts. 
Indefinite statements, mental reservations, omissions of 
slight things, or substitutions, have done much to per- 
vert truth and to retard the advancement of useful know- 
ledge. I have endeavored to present facts as they are, 
that they may be reliably used by others hereafter, and 
perhaps by myself. It is therefore that I have taken 
occasion to qualify the statements in reference to case 
469 ; and all that I do know of the man is, that within a 
month of this present writing he was not dead, but was 
in the exercise of his responsible official duties. 

Other cases cured might have been given, much more 
conclusive than these, but I wished to give an equal num- 
ber with the preceding class, of such as were consecutive 
of the kind, within a period of four months. 

The prominent points to be noticed in the twelve cases 
just given are — 

1. That when there is but a small deficiency in the 
measurement of the lungs, it is uniformly restored by 
appropriate means, persevered in. 

2. That when such deficiency is made up, the system 
returns to good health. 

And the great practical lesson to be derived from the 
two classes of cases is — 



MISTAKEN PATIENTS. 171 

That inasmuch as when the deficiency is large, persons 
usually die within half a year, 

That when, on the other hand, the deficiency is small, 
health is generally regained in a reasonable time ; 

Therefore, safety consists in detecting the, first decrease 
of lung action, and in making prompt and appropriate 
and sufficient efforts to remove such deficiency ; and 
that this can be done, the class of cases just given demon- 
strably show. It is very true that it cannot always be 
done, but it is accomplished with encouraging frequency. 

MISTAKEN PATIENTS. 

It frequently occurs, that persons coming to me, believe 
themselves to be consumptive, when such is not the 
case. In every such instance, the measurement of the 
lungs indicated their full and healthful action. 

B. W., aged 50, Jan. 12, 1844, came to me from a 
private hospital. His friends did not think he could 
live. He complained chiefly of pains in the side and 
breast, yellow expectoration, binding across the breast, 
a feeling of rawness up and down the breast bone, chilli- 
ness, bad sleep, and a constant hack of a cough, pulse 
eighty-six. It was very evident to me that he had not 
Consumption, yet he and his immediate friends appeared 
perfectly certain of it. In a few weeks he got well, not 
needing any farther medical care. Over seven years 
after he was in my office, and having a wish to take his 
lung measurement ; they were working fully and well, 
as they had been doing from the beginning ; pulse 
seventy -two, lungs measure two hundred and sixty-two. 

A married lady applied to me, June 3d, 1844, believ- 
ing herself to be the subject of Consumption ; she had 
pains in the sides, chilliness, flushes, frequent clearing 



172 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

of the throat, expectoration of a whitish phlegm, occa- 
sional palpitation of the heart, burning in feet and face, 
tightness across the chest, and coldness between the 
shoulder blades behind, with other minor ailments. At 
the end of six years she is a strong, healthy, hearty 
woman, weighing fifteen pounds more than she ever did 
in her life, her lungs measure to their full standard, and 
she is in all respects well. 

C. W. T. Sept. 30th, 1847. Pulse 120, dry hands, 
a harsh, jarring cough, has to clear his throat a great 
deal, numerous large red splotches on its back part, as 
if the skin were peeled off, steady morning cough, with 
other symptoms. I informed him that he had nothing 
like Consumption, and treated him accordingly. Two 
years later he remained well, was actively engaged in 
preaching, with his lungs to their fullest healthful stand- 
ard, and so remained two or three years later. Since 
lost sight of. 

W. H. L. aged 31, applied Nov. 25th, 1847, under 
the full conviction that he had Consumption, especially 
as a sister had died of it. He had cold feet, general chil- 
liness, pains in the leftside, restless sleep, a troublesome 
cough at night, a little on getting up in the morning, 
with expectoration of a darkish matter, high pulse, and 
had fallen away some ten pounds ; there were other ail- 
ments. His lungs measured to their full standard. He 
soon got well, and near four years after, he enjoyed ex- 
cellent health, his lungs working fully and perfectly. 

J. T. aged 22, Feb. 7th, 1848, applied. Having had 
a hacking cough, and clearing of the throat, with spit- 
ting of blood, and pains in the breast. With all these 
symptoms, his lungs measured to their fullest standard. 



MISTAKEN PATIENTS. 173 

Three years later he was an active, healthy man of busi- 
ness. 

S. G. R. aged 32, Feb. 16, 1848, complained of short- 
ness of breath, daily chill from 9 to 1 1 o'clock, great ge- 
neral chilliness, a burning sensation about the breast- 
bone, pains in the sides, ill feeling between the shoulder 
blades, a frequent clearing of the throat, with dryness 
and hurting there, great depression of spirits and nerv- 
ousness, had been troubled with night-sweats. This was 
not Consumption. His measurement was fully up to 
the healthful standard, where it remained four }^ears 
later, when he was engaged in the active duties of his 
profession. 

A. W. aged 30, March 6th, 1848, pulse 100, morning 
cough, expectoration of a greenish, ill-smelling stuff, with 
previous night-sweats, some difficult breathing and trou- 
blesome cough. He soon got well, for he had no lung 
disease, he measured to the full healthy standard, and 
did so four years later. 

Mrs. J. T., March 29, 1848, complained of difficult 
breathing very often on exercising, palpitation, night 
sweats previous, bloody expectoration, bad taste in the 
mouth of mornings, weakness and pain in the small of 
the back, a frequent burning pain between the shoulder 
blades behind, and very severe sometimes ; very much 
oppressed at times ; pains about the shoulder points ; 
pains about the edge of the ribs, which three seatons, 
blistering, and cupping, failed to remove ; a great deal 
of " bad feeling" at the pit of the stomach pretty much 
all the time ; good deal of general chilliness, feet cold 
more or less every day, cold as ice, sometimes restless 
sleep, palpitation ; had fallen off twenty-five pounds ; it 
appeared sometimes as if breathing made the throat feel 



174 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

raw ; she had been four years suffering from these symp- 
toms. The lungs measured full. Her case progressed 
favorably and readily yielded to treatment. Several 
years later she continued in good health. Since lost 
sight of. 

It is perhaps not necessary to multiply cases. The 
point which they are designed to prove is, that how- 
ever many of the common symptoms of Consumption a 
man may have, if the lungs measure to the full healthful 
standard for that man, those symptoms are capable of 
uniform removal, and restoration to good health is an 
ordinary event. 

My decided opinion of all these cases was, that they were 
not cases of Consumption ; others thought they were, and 
the inevitable inference is either that my opinion was 
correct in every case ; or if it was not correct, Consump- 
tion is a very curable disease, if treated judiciously and 
promptly, when the common symptoms of its approach 
first present themselves. It is to secure this, that this 
book is mainly written. My whole desire is, not to in- 
sist that Consumption is curable in its advanced stages, 
or that it is easily cured in any stage, but that if the 
symptoms are properly attended to on their first appear- 
ance, a perfect and permanent cure is almost as certain 
as the cure of ordinary diseases. 

In 1848 I made a publication of a hundred pages, de- 
tailing more at length observations on the lung meas- 
urement method, showing its practical bearing ; giving 
statistics, to show the gradual increase of lung meas- 
urement in those who recover, and the inevitable death 
of those who decrease from week to week. The treat- 
ment of several cases is also given in detail. But 
enough copies were not sold to pay for the paper, no 



SYMPTOMS NOT ALWAYS TO BE RELIED ON. 175 

person having been requested or paid to give a review 
or favorable notice. The whole edition therefore was 
given away with the exception of a few copies.* 

But to show how unreliable all other modes of deter- 
mining whether a person has Consumption or not, and 
how important it is that something more certain should 
be added, the following cases are given : 

" A person had severe cough for some time, and was 
treated without benefit by several physicians; on ex- 
amination it was found that a large amount of " wax" 
had collected in the ear and become hardened ; it was 
taken out, and speedy recovery followed. A straw, or 
the end of the finger introduced into the ear, produces an 
active dry cough." 

Common hysteria often produces cough, expectoration 
and spitting of blood, giving rise to alarming apprehen- 
sions of Consumption. 

Disease of the liver sometimes occasions cough, ex- 
pectoration and hectic, and is pronounced with great 
confidence, to be " Consumption ;" when even a superfi- 
cial examination might have shown the contrary. 

Dry cough, pain in the back, and 'difficulty of breath- 
ing, are sometimes caused by hardening of the liver. 

" A lady had a cough and loss of voice ; and for two 
years was shut up in the house, for fear of catching cold, 
and of course got weaker and worse every day. She 
was made to abandon her room, go out of doors, eat and 
drink substantial aliment, and with a little simple medi- 
cine got well. 

" A gentleman had been ill two months, with all the 
ordinary symptoms of Consumption, such as cough, ex- 

* Sent p. p. by the author for one dollar. 



176 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

pectoration of a yellowish substance with a little blood, 
night sweats, pain in side, falling away, &c. ? with hectic 
fever ; but it was active inflammation of the lungs, and 
was cured accordingly in a few days, but by a very dif- 
ferent mode of treatment from what Consumption would 
have required. 

"A young gentleman was condemned by high medical 
authority to go to the island of Madeira, as " nothing 
else could save him ;" but his business required his per- 
sonal attention, and besides, he was going to be married. 
On seeking new advice he was counselled differently, got 
well in a month, and is now the father of a family. 

"Another person had consumptive symptoms; was 
shut up in a warm room, dieted and physicked, waiting 
for a vessel to go abroad. A different course was re- 
commended. In ten days his cough disappeared, and at 
the end of five years had not returned." 

Dr. McDonnell, in the Lancet for April, 1844, gives 
a case which greatly perplexed the Dublin physicians. 
It had every prominent mark of consumption in its last 
stage. Its origin, its general symptoms and many of 
its physical signs were those of true tubercular phthisis. 
There were present emaciation, purulent expectoration, 
hectic fever and a blubbering of matter at every breath, 
at the top of the affected side of the chest, and various 
other signs, which would at once have led a superficial 
or ignorant investigator to pronounce it Consumption in 
its very last and most hopeless form. But a more ex- 
perienced practitioner confidently declared that it was a 
very different disease, and treated it accordingly. The 
subsequent history and perfect cure of the case by means 
not applicable to Consumption, proved beyond all ques- 
tion, that it was not a case of phthisis. Other cases 



SYMPTOMS NOT ALWAYS TO BE RELIED ON. 177 

might be given, having quick pulse, night sweats, ema- 
ciation, and other hectic symptoms, all of which got 
w T ell as above. Had these cases come under the ex- 
amination of a common physician, they would have been 
declared hopeless cases, having no special experience in 
Consumptive cases, and that the only possible chance of 
recovery would be to go to the South. 

But whatever may have been the indifference mani- 
fested some years ago to lung measurement in reference 
to Consumption, I think that a change is occurring in 
public medical sentiment. The first instrument ever 
made in the United States, after the model, was made to 
my order, but I have never seen one in the office of an 
American physician, yet they are becoming so common 
in Great Britain, that their most eminent lecturers, in 
discoursing on Consumptive disease, give the capacity 
of a man's lungs for holding air as a matter of course, 
as much so as giving his pulse, and so will every reader 
of the standard current British medical publications find 
it, indicating that a change is taking place as to the 
points which are hereafter to determine, whether a man 
has Consumption or not, foreshadowing the comparative 
disuse of stethescopes, plessimeters and percussion, when 
the stripping of a man, turning him over and over, 
striking every inch of his breast, will be considered a 
useless labor and a useless infliction, when will become 
obsolete the words Rale, soufflez, ronchus, sibilant, asgo- 
phony, &c. ; when a world of professional perspicacity and 
hair-breadth discrimination, in determining the exact point 
where disease is located will be spared, for the simple 
reason, that it never made the slightest practical dif- 
ference, whether the top or bottom, or side, or interior, 
or exterior of a lung was affected, the treatment being 
8* 



178 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



the same, but rather an injury is done the patient 



in designating the exact locality of disease, by causing 
his mind to revert constantly to it, and producing more 
incessant and unavailing disquietude. 

I here give two cases, practically illustrating the new- 
method, which may be termed Spirometrical Diagnosis, 
that is, determining the condition of a consumptive per- 
son, by means of measuring the lungs ; one showing a 
gradual increase of lung capacity, ending in permanent 
health, the other, a constant decrease, terminating in death. 

656. W. B., a merchant from Kentucky, aged 33, 
pulse 96, taking in at a full breath 170 cubic inches of 
air, instead of 254, that is, one- third of his lungs were 
useless to him, either because they were hopelessly de- 
cayed away, or collapsed, infiltrated with mucus, &c. 
The instrument which I use for measuring to the frac- 
tion of one cubic inch, how much air a man's lungs hold 
at a full inspiration, does not indicate in any way the 
cause of inoperative lungs ; it only shows the fact that 
they are inoperative, and the physician must determine 
by auscultation and other general symptoms, whether 
the lungs are decayed away or whether they are merely 
engorged, collapsed, infiltrated or the like ; and this is a 
matter of vital importance, for if they are gone, their re- 
storation is hopeless ; if, however, they are within a 
man, and are merely rendered useless by the latter 
named class of causes, these causes of inaction may be 
removed; so that with the instrument which I employ 
for measuring the capacity of the lungs for common air, 
a man must be a finished auscultator, and must be most 
thoroughly acquainted with the whole catalogue of symp- 
toms of diseases to which the human frame is liable. 
But before I give the opinion rendered in this man's 



SPIR0METR1CAL DIAGNOSIS. 179 

case, I will detail some of his other prominent symp. 
toms. 

He was a tall, spare bachelor, with a white dry tongue, 
a great deal of pain in the small of the back for the 
last two years, constant pain in the breast, and frequent 
ill feeling between the shoulder blades behind ; he had a 
great deal of general chilliness, (and no wonder when he 
had lost the use of one-third of his lungs,) burning feet 
and hands in the afternoon, costive bowels, linen 
generally damp from night sweats, a dry hacking cough 
night and day, always on getting up in the morning ; 
had spit blood at different times for four years past ; at 
one time he spat up clear red blood every day for three 
weeks ; the cough was his greatest inconvenience. He 
thinks his ailment was brought on by having had the 
measles some years ago, they did not come out well. 
Complains of being always chilly, and looks as if he 
were almost frozen; he has fallen off, from his best 
weight, twenty-seven pounds. With these symptoms, I 
gave him the following opinion : 

"Your general constitution is much impaired by long 
standing disease, and your lungs have suffered much in 
consequence, so much so, that a large portion of them 
are useless to you ; they are inoperative, inactive, and 
do not answer the purposes of life. A part of your 
lungs have decayed, but that was some time ago ; that de- 
cay is not progressing at this time ; your lungs are not 
decaying now; but they are in such a weak condition, 
that you are liable at any time, by any debilitating sick- 
ness, or by a succession of bad colds, to be thrown into 
a rapid decline. It is my opinion that your lungs can 
be restored to their full action, and your health placed 
on a good foundation." 



180 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

The reader will please notice the words above in 
italics. After he had read my opinion, he said to me 
for the first time, that about five years ago he went to 
the South for his health, and the physicians told him that 
he was in the last stages of consumption ; shortly after a 
running sore appeared not far from the socket of the 
thigh bone ; he at once began to recover and got well. 

When he first came to me, his pulse was 96, and his lung 
capacity 170 ; on the 27th of June his pulse was as low 
as 90, and his capacity 186; on the 24th of August, 
pulse was 80, and his capacity 230. I have not seen 
him since, (some six weeks ago,) but I have no doubt I 
shall find a continued improvement, and a dimunition 
of six or eight for the pulse, and an increase of 24 cubic 
inches of lung capacity for air, would restore him to his 
healthy standard. The reader will here note the cor- 
rectness of my opinion, not only in telling him that his 
lungs had been previously diseased ; but that he could 
get well again, notwithstanding night sweats, constant 
chilliness, and an incessant cough. Not only his pulse 
and breathing improved, but he had a correspondent in- 
crease of strength, flesh and appetite, no sweating, no blood, 
bowels regular, and he did not complain of cough at all. 
On the 21st of June of the following year 1850, thir- 
teen months after I first saw him, he called to see me, 
not for further advice, but as a kindly remembrance. 
His condition was satisfactory as detailed in the recapi- 
tulation. I have not since heard from him. 



Date. Pulse. 


Breathing. Lung measi 


May 23, '49 96 


25 170 


June 23, " 90 


22 186 


Aug. 24, « 80 


20 230 


June 21, '50 — 


242 


Healthy condition 72 


18 246 



SPIROMETRICAL DIAGNOSIS. 181 

The pulse and breathing are left blank in the last ex- 
amination, because he remained but a few moments, 
having walked a considerable distance in mid summer 
up a hill, that is, from the Ohio river to Fourth Street, 
Cincinnati. 

The pulse beating and lung measurement, desig- 
nated " healthy condition," are such as would be healthy 
in a man of his temperament, age, height, weight, habits. 

A. M. Y. 349, tall, slim man, dark hair and skin, aged 
32, applied for advice August 16, complaining of pain 
between the shoulder blades behind, weak breast, hectic 
fever in the afternoon ; spits up several spoonfuls of 
yellow matter every day, costive, bad cough, unrefresh- 
ing sleep, constant pain in the breast, with other minor 
ailments. 

Date. Pulse. Breathing. Lung Measurement. 

August 14 100 

October 15 90 

October 23 80 

Dec. 8 112 

December 24 Died. 

It will be perceived that up to October 23, there was 
a steady, gradual, admirable improvement, and he felt 
that he was getting well. Being a very close man, he 
thought he would obtain such remedies as I thought he 
would require, and dispense with the cost of advice. I 
did not see him again until December 8, a period of near 
seven weeks, during which time he had exposed himself 
a great deal on the wharf, in the mud and rain, and had 
injured himself by over-exertion. He applied to an 
eminent surgeon, but not getting better, and becoming 
alarmed, he called upon me again, and made the state- 
ment just given December 8, but he had too far receded 



18 


168 


17 


184 


14 


192 


22 


160 



182 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

and died in sixteen days. It is interesting to notice the 
steady improvement towards health in the pulse, breath- 
ing, and lung measure, and the subsequent receding to 
death in the same person. 

The error in this case was the patient's, in not remain- 
ing under the physician's care as long as he continued to 
improve, and until every remnant of disease was eradicat- 
ed. An equally fatal error is sometimes made in having 
an over confidence in one's own opinion, on subjects not 
in their own line of life. This occurs most frequently in 
persons in authority, who are accustomed to dictate to 
others, and when needing counsel or aid have to depend on 
themselves, and having acquired such a habit of self-reliance 
in their own proper sphere, they find it difficult, out of that 
sphere, to throw that staff away, and be led submissively 
by another ; this is particularly true of clergymen, law- 
yers, masters of steamers, ships, boats, &o. 

AN ILLUSTRATION. 

A very popular clergyman, on the point of being 
laid aside from a painful and threatening affection of 
the throat, wrote to me for my advice and bill therefor. 
I prepared such directions as his case seemed to require, 
and that was the last of it. Not feeling satisfied, I 
wrote at the end of six weeks to know if my instructions 
had been received, and to what extent they had been 
observed. The following is an extract from the answer 
received : 

" My Dear Sir, — 

" I received your first letter in due time, and will very 
frankly inform you why I have not written to you as in 
your written instructions you requested. I have not 



AN ILLUSTRATION. 183 

adopted your recommendations. So far from intending 
any disrespect for you in so doing, I can safely say, that 
I would not have followed such recommendations from 
any physician in the United States ; and lest you fancy 
that I esteem you less than any other physician, I can 
truly say that I was pleased with your printed remarks, 
thought them written with spirit and talent, and accord- 
ing to my judgment, with a great deal of truth. Why 
then not follow the prescription 1 1st, because I was 
perfectly satisfied that under your system of dieting, I 
would rapidly lose strength and flesh, and spirits, and 
(therefore) never practiced your rules; 2d, your (re- 
commendations) after meals, I tried twenty-five years 
ago, and several times since, and never will try again ; 
3d, I never swallow pills, unless driven to extemity, and 
cannot take pills for a chronic disease, for anybody ; 
4th, I have effectually tried what I consider a splendid 
remedy for an acute affection of the throat, but found it 
ineffectual for a chronic case. I have tried your other 
suggestions, and after two weeks omitted them, to see 
if they made any difference, and resorted to them again. 
I think they are good, and will continue to employ them. 
One strengthens my breast and enables me to dispense 
with a Burgundy Pitch Plaster, which I have used for 
years ; it is to me a valuable remedy, and for which I feel 
greatly obliged to you, and also for the gargle recom- 
mended. It is proper that I should tell 

you that I employ no physician in my own case, but 
whenever I am sick, I manage my own case, and have 
done so for twenty years. Hence, I took upon myself 
to reject your prescription, without calling in any other 
physician. 

" Permit me to say to you, that the two prescriptions 



184 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

named, will amply repay me for the trouble of seeking 
your assistance." 

This is designed to be a practical book, hence I com- 
ment on the above letter. 

It is putting the physician to a considerable and unre- 
quited trouble, to send for advice, unless there be an 
honorable determination to follow it, as long as it does 
not do an appreciable injury, and for a reasonable time. 

No physician who properly respects himself, will give 
advice to any man, or for any compensation, who re- 
serves to himself the right to decide upon its propriety 
and observance ; the application itself implies a total 
relinquishment of private judgment, and a promise of 
attention to the instructions given. 

On looking over the letter again, it will be seen that 
what he did do was of special service to him. 

That of some other things advised, he thought no good 
would result, and therefore declined them. 

The after meal preparation was to be taken in con- 
nection with the pill, and his taking it alone years be- 
fore without benefit, was no sufficient reason for their 
not being of service when taken in conjunction. 

The same in reference to the " splendid remedy" for 
the throat. I directed him to use it in connection with 
the liniment, of which he had never heard before, and 
for which he expresses special thanks twice, that is, one 
was unavailing formerly, therefore both would not effect 
anything. 

In another part of the letter, not quoted, he says the 
gargle was a good palliative, but would not be a perma- 
nent cure, when he had only used it two weeks, and that 
wuth such advantage as to cause him to express his ob- 
ligation for the recipe twice. It could not be supposed 



AN ILLUSTRATION. 185 

that a throat affection could be removed in two weeks, 
which had been existing for years ; and that it should 
have given some alleviation after being used so short a 
time, in such a case, ought to have been at least pre- 
sumptive evidence of increased benefit, from its con- 
tinued employment. 

I advised him to take four pills, one a week, but this 
he could not do, because he did not take pills, until the 
last extremity. 

He thought that by the diet allowed him, he would 
lose flesh and strength. I allowed a cup of weak tea, or 
coffee, or chocolate, at each meal, with butter, and a pound 
of a particular kind of bread a day, for five days, and then 
to add some beef for dinner until further notice. In the 
passage of the Cuban prisoners to Spain in 1851, one of 
them states, " we esteemed it a broad grin of good for- 
tune, if we realized seven spoonfuls of beans for dinner, 
and half a pint of bread soup or mash for supper ; two 
such strokes of good luck rarely came together," this was 
perhaps in addition to the " buggy biscuit which, with 
incredible exactness was portioned out, each pile, to a 
crumb, the prototype of its neighbor, and as nicely ap- 
portioned, as if the scales of the bank of England had 
been employed in weighing it." And yet, after a long 
voyage, in a crowded vessel, they reached their destina- 
tion in safety, not a death on the passage nor special 
sickness, except that of the sea. 

One pound of wheat a day, will feed a man well, yet 
with a pound of bread a day, besides tea, and coffee, and 
butter, this man thought he would lose flesh and 
strength. A person in ordinary business should have 
one and a half pounds of solid food a day ; sedentary 
persons one-third less, that is, one pound. Captain Perry 



186 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

in his account of one of the Polar expeditions, states 
that experience satisfied him that the following daily 
allowance, was quite enough to support his crew on ship- 
board, that is, while performing the ordinary or regular 
ship duties. Ten ounces of biscuit, one once of cocoa 
powder, and nine ounces of beef pemmican, that is, beef 
sliced thin, smoked over wood, pounded, and then an 
equal quantity of its own fat mixed with it, making 
twenty ounces in all, and that for working men, in the 
coldest climate in the world. It is true they had in ad- 
dition a gill of rum, and half an ounce of tobacco a day, 
but this so far from adding to their strength, decreased 
it, for in reference to it, Sir John Ross, in his " Arctic 
Expedition," says, " When men under hard and steady 
labor, are given their usual allowance ; viz., a draught of 
grog, or a dram, they become languid and faint, losing 
their strength in reality, while they attribute that, to the 
continuance of their fatiguing exertions. He who will 
make the corresponding experiments on two equal boat's 
crews, rowing in a heavy sea, will soon be convinced that 
the water drinkers will far out-do the others." 

Two pounds of solid food, or twenty-four ounces a day is 
allowed in Great Britain to healthy, able bodied paupers, 
who are made to work ; if they do not work, sixteen 
ounces, if in good health; and yet we have an intelli- 
gent man imagining that he would lose flesh and 
strength, if confined to twelve ounces a day, for five 
days, with some meat thereafter for dinner, and he an 
invalid. " We need not fear that ten ounces of solid 
food a day is too little," says Dr. G. K. Chambers, in one 
of the Gulstonian Lectures, delivered in London in 
1850, "for here is a gentleman who confined himself t'o 
this quantity for a long period, and found his mental 



AN ILLUSTRATION. 187 

and bodily powers always equal to the strain, which 
the pursuit of a laborious profession in London de- 
mands." 

When Washington and his army were encamped at 
Morristown, New Jersey, in mid-winter at " the 
Orchard," his troops were served, with one gill, a fourth 
of a pint of wheat a day. After they had borne it for 
some time, he went among the soldiers, and was so 
deeply moved at witnessing their privations, he ex- 
claimed with the greatest kindness of manner, 

"Men ! can you bear it ?" 

" Yes, General, and if you want us to do anything, we 
are ready." 

These things show how much less food men can subsist 
upon, than most persons imagine. There can scarcely 
be a doubt, that we, as a people, would live longer, be 
happier, would have better health, greater strength, and 
more robustness of constitution, if we consumed at least 
one-third less of food and drink at each meal than we do, 
provided we ate nothing between meals, and took but 
three a day. The soldiers above-named, may have been 
able, now and then to obtain something additional, but 
all their certain reliance from the public stores, was a 
measured gill of wheat a day. I speak of this the more 
at length purposely, to have an opportunity of impress- 
ing on the mind of the reader, especially if he should 
afterwards come under my care, a most important prac- 
tical fact, perverted every day, every day confirming 
disease in multitudes, and making countless others in- 
valids, who would have returned to health from the sim- 
ple influence of the recuperative powers of the system, 
had the error been avoided. The supposition is, when 
a person feels unwell he must eat something, whether he 



188 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

feels like it or not, to give him some strength. And there- 
fore the more he eats the more will he be strengthened 
as he supposes. The brutes, governed by their low in- 
stincts, do not eat, when sick, or excited, and yet they 
get well. An invalid is just as much indisposed to eat 
as a person in health, the moment after sudden alarm, 
or in half an hour after a usual meal, and firmly resists 
all solicitations to do so, and perhaps turns away with a 
secret feeling of loathing, and yet this species of martyr- 
dom are invalids constantly called to suffer by mistaken 
kindness. 

But the great fact is the general law of our being, that 
the sensation of hunger is proportioned to the wants of 
the body. When there is no hunger, there is no want. 
And if under such circumstances food is introduced into 
the stomach, there is nothing there to receive it, it re- 
mains a labor and a load, to oppress and to irritate, and 
in proportion debilitates. If any sustenance is derived 
from it, it is imperfectly eliminated, because it has not 
been done with a will, and being imperfect, it is thrown 
into the blood, and renders imperfect and impure the 
whole mass. 

Another important fact is, that the amount of strength 
derived from food, is not in proportion to the quantity 
eaten, but in proportion to the amount that is perfectly 
digested. Therefore when the stomach is feeble, it will 
derive more nourishment, and more strength from a small 
amount of food than from a larger amount, for there may 
be enough of the digestive juices to digest perfectly a small 
amount, but if a larger quantity is added, it may indeed 
work up the whole, but it will be an imperfect work. The 
hopper will grind well, a moderate amount of wheat, and 
it will be good flour, but if the hopper be crowded, choked, 



FACTS CONCERNING- FOOD. 189 

it may still grind, but the whole will be a bad article of 
flour. A man may do a moderate amount of work well, 
but if you give him too much to do, it may all be done, 
but it will all be done ill. Thus, if an invalid wishes his 
food to strengthen him, he must in the first place eat less 
than a hale, hearty, workman requires, that is, twenty- 
four ounces ; he must eat less than a healthy, sedentary 
man requires, that is, sixteen ounces ; and if while sick, 
and doing nothing, he consumes as much food as a 
healthy man, who does nothing, and expects to gain 
strength, and regain health, he will be a disappointed 
man to the end of life, and merits that disappointment 
well, for reason has been wisely and beneficently given 
us, and it is criminal not to employ it. 

" Whenever I am sick, I manage my own case, and 
have done so for twenty years/' I happened to be ac- 
quainted with this gentleman's history, without his know- 
ledge, for this same twenty years and more ; and it may 
be interesting to the reader to know, that during that 
long period, he had never seen a well day. And with 
great uniformity, will it be thus with those who are their 
own physicians. And it is precisely for the reason that 
he will be his own physician, that he will remain an in- 
valid until a premature grave shuts him from the world. 
The number of persons who " doctor themselves to 
death," is saddening to contemplate. To'live on physic, 
is the weakness of the age. None but a practising physi- 
cian, especially in cities and large towns, can have any 
adequate conception of the extent to which it obtains. 
To a humane practitioner, it is a melancholy reflection ; 
the constitutions ruined by unwise tampering^ ; the lives 
lost by fatal delays from the use of inert or deceitful 
remedies ! Pecuniarily, it is an advantage to the prac- 



190 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

titioner, for when the constitution is blasted, the body 
bed-ridden, when every thing has been taken, hap- 
hazard, and increasing pain and suffering compel a dif- 
ferent course, the scientific practitioner is called in, and 
a case, which a single visit or prescription might have 
cured at first, now requires an attendance of weeks, per- 
haps months, with a proportional bill in the end. 

It is the custom not to call in a physician for what 
is supposed a slight ailment, for fear of having to take 
strong medicine, as it is called, and yet, the same person 
will purchase bottle after bottle, the constituents of 
which he is utterly ignorant, and take it for weeks and 
months together, not knowing that nearly every article, 
sold as a patent medicine for coughs, colds, and con- 
sumption, contains opium, arsenic or prussic acid, while 
the physician's prescription could be known by asking 
the druggist who prepares it. These are suggestions for 
the thoughtful reader. I hope they will not be alto- 
gether unavailing, and that here and there one may 
be found, who will, when he is complaining, take advice 
from his family physician, and follow it, and never take 
an atom of the simplest thing in existence, without that 
advice ; and it is certain, that by this course, many a 
good constitution will be preserved good, and many a 
useful life will be saved to society. 

In the next case, 636, is another illustration of the 
effects of a patient following the dictates of his own judg- 
ment. 

Capt. B. came to me on the fifteenth of March for an 
opinion of his case; his lungs should have contained two 
hundred and forty-six cubic inches of air, whereas they 
contained but one hundred and ninety-two, with a weak 
pulse of one hundred and a respiration of thirty to the 



ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 191 

minute. I told him that he had true consumption, that 
his lungs were in a state of decay, and if not arrested, 
he would certainly die within a few months. He called 
on the twenty-second and said that he had been conver- 
sing with an old friend now in good health, an old associate 
of his, for whom he had a very high respect ; he had at 
one time been very ill, as all supposed, with consump- 
tion ; however, by the use of medicinal remedies he re- 
covered. In detailing his symptoms, the Captain thought 
that they bore a remarkable similarity to his own, and 
became fully possessed with the idea that his, also, was 
a liver affection, and that a course of blue mass would 
cure him. I represented to him that he was mistaken, 
and as an inducement, offered to give him advice and 
remedies without charge; but he declined them, saying 
he would follow his own course, and if he did not get 
better, he would call and see me in two months, as he 
was compelled to go to Pittsburgh. 

In my notes of the case, I find the following re- 
marks. 

Thursday, March 22d.< — This case has not confidence 
in the treatment proposed. 

2. He will die this summer, or, at least, before next 
winter, first, 

3. Because he believes it is his liver solely, and will 
act accordingly. 

4. He will die, because he consumes an amount of 
air one-fifth less than he ought to have at each full in- 
spiration. His pulse is still one hundred, his cough 
I consider a terrible one, and there is an alarming 
thinness of flesh. 

I never saw him afterwards ; he died on the twenty- 
fifth of June following. 



192 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

There is another item in this case worthy of remark. 
When he came into my office on the fifteenth of March, 
he was weak and emaciated, and coughed badly ; he had 
a severe pain in the right side, no sleep, no appetite, 
tongue dry and rough ; he had an exhausted and hag- 
gard expression of countenance, and was greatly 
dispirited. With some minor directions, I gave him to 
take at bed-time a small alterative pill. He returned in 
two days, saying, as he entered the door, " I could not 
have believed that so great a change could have taken 
place in so short a time." He continued to improve for 
the week he was under my care, and the action of his 
lungs had regained one-seventh of their deficiency. — 
His cough had diminished, slept well, without any 
kind of anodyne, appetite good, and in other respects 
was doing well. But in spite of all this improvement, 
and his own acknowledgment, he became possessed of 
an unfortunate idea, that the liver and not the lungs, 
was at fault, and perished, the victim of a mistaken 
opinion. Perhaps the two illustrations given will show 
the danger of any uneducated person taking his case in 
his own hands ; of relying upon his own judgment, and 
experimenting accordingly, and yet it is often done with 
results not less disastrous to health and life than those 
occurring to Capt. B — . 

Persons who apply to a physician for advice, should 
first be prepared to yield implicit submission to his 
judgment in all respects, and throw upon him the 
responsibility. With any thing short of that confidence, 
it is far better to remain at home. 

In order to let the reader see how beautifully, as I think, 
the system,, of lung measurement diagnosis operates I 
will give a case illustrating this point : that persons under 



ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 193 

treatment for Consumption, who measure less air than 
they ought to do, fast pulse, fast breathing, &c., pro- 
vided their cases are curable, do, from time to time, 
measure more air, the pulse falls, the breathing is less 
rapid, the strength improves and flesh increases. 

August 2d. — A tall, spare, raw-boned man, six feet 
one inch high, with black hair and eyes, aged forty-nine, 
weighed once 180 pounds, now 135, only. "I caught 
cold," said he, " two years ago by getting wet, it settled 
on the breast ; was in excellent health until that time ; 
have taken a great* quantity of patent medicines since, 
but have got steadily worse ; I now sometimes spit up 
in a day half a pint of thin, pure, yellow, ragged matter ; 
I cough a great deal, sometimes two hours before I go to 
sleep, then J wake up about midnight and have another 
spell of coughing, and another as soon as I get up and 
stir about a little." 

He was greatly dejected, had three spells of spitting 
of blood within two years, mixed with matter; his 
cough was most distressing, coming on about every two 
hours during the night, so that when he gets up in the 
morning he feels weak, exhausted, and wretched. I fear 
that too many of my readers can fully appreciate the 
meaning of his statement by sad experience. The opin- 
ion I gave is as follows, verbatim. "You have Con- 
sumption. One-tenth of the lungs have decayed away, 
therefore you can never get entirely well again. No 
medicine known to me will do you any good, but an 
injury ; anything that will speedily stop your cough will 
kill you before spring ; except by accident, you will not 
die soon, but by proper exercise, avoidance of fatigue, 
&c, you may live for years to come." 

9 



194 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

I gave him the usual advice, and in a week or tea 
days he returned, to all appearance worse than he was 
before, more feeble ; he now could not sleep at all, 
except by snatches of a few minutes at a time ; he said 
he could hear the clock strike every hour of the night, 
and that toward morning he was drenched with sweat. 
He insisted upon it. that without speedy and very marked 
relief he would soon die ; that he could not stand it ; he 
could get no sleep ; his fits of coughing were so frequent 
and so long continued, that when they were over he sank 
down perfectly exhausted ; they left him feeling as if he 
would rather die than continue in such a horrible state 
of endurance. 

I told this man that I saw nothing to change ray views 
of his case, that he certainly was not going to die, and 
that all that was required in addition to what he was 
already doing, was to go home, and at bed time every 
night follow closely the additional directions which I 
gave him. I gave such instructions in addition as would 
keep him from taking cold. He said he was afraid it 
would injure him ; yet he was willing to try anything 
that would do him any good. 

In a week he returned. He said the first morning 
after using the means advised, his inner garment, by the 
exhalations from his body, smelled so badly, that he was 
obliged to fling it away from him ; this odor gradually 
diminished, and finally disappeared. He could sleep 
some, and his cough was not so bad. 

At the end of two months, viz. Oct. 4, I find the fol- 
lowing entry : " Walked four miles this morning, and 
feel stronger and better than when I first started ; appe- 
tite g'»od, strength keeps gaining, bowels regular; my 
disease has changed, I cough only by spells, and do not 



ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 195 

cough much at night ; when I cough and spit up freely in 
the day-time. The tickling and soreness at the little 
hollow place at the bottom of the neck in front is not so 
bad now, and when I sleep it does me good ; breast is 
well enough now ; sometimes I do not cough once in 
half a day. As his bowels, sleep, appetite, were all 
good, no sweating, almost no cough, all soreness around 
the middle from coughing and straining had disap- 
peared, was getting stronger, and gaining flesh every 
day, he wanted to know if he needed any farther attend- 
ance." 

August 2 — 32 respirations in a minute. 
Sept. 26—28 " " 

Oct. 15—20 " " 

This case is to show, that as a man gets well of an 
affection of the lungs, the breathing becomes slower and 
slower, until it gets down to the natural standard, which 
is generally from 16 to 20 in a minute. 

This person was living two years later, as I was in- 
formed. It will be perceived, that when he ceased to 
be under my care, he still had some cough and expecto- 
ration, and he will continue to do so, for the following 
reason. The disease was arrested, but the cavity in the 
lungs remained ; but nature had thrown out a lining 
membrane all around this cavity, which, while it effec- 
tually prevented farther injury to the lungs, would natu- 
rally throw out a substance similar to what is thrown 
out in healthy cavities, the back part of the mouth for 
example, to lubricate the parts, and when it has answered 
its purpose, it is ejected, as common saliva is, but that 
which comes from a cavity is of greater consistence. 
When a cavity is small, it gradually closes up, when all 



196 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

expectoration and cough cease. But when it is too 
large to admit of closure, it wil] continue to pour out 
more or less of a secretion during life, as an old sore on 
the outside of the body, the leg, for example, will do. 

There is one other point in this case which I wish par- 
ticularly to mention. It will afford unmixed satisfaction 
to persons applying hereafter, who have lost a portion 
of their lungs, and the decay still progressing. 



Date. 


Healthy measure. 


Actual measure. 


Aug. 2, 


270 


244 


Sept. 10, 


u 


224 


Sept. 26, 


« 


208 


Oct. 4, 


a 


200 


Oct. 15, 


a 


230 



In this case there was a constant decrease in his lung 
measurement for two months after he applied to me, and 
this was one cause of his discouragement, yet there were 
other symptoms present, which enabled me to speak 
encouragingly and confidently to him, and as the result 
showed, truthfully. When the measurement reached 
the lowest figure, it began to increase. The reason of it 
is this. When he first came, the lungs had not only de- 
cayed, were decaying, and a portion of them were too 
far gone to have the decay arrested as to them, and they 
also finally gave way ; but when this had taken place, 
the remainder of the lungs not only continued to work 
well, but by training were made to do more than their 
natural share of labor, as has been stated already in 
page 101. And although at the highest point of im- 
provement he lacked nearly one-sixth of his full mea- 
surement, yet having a natural pulse, and natural 
breathing, he was living several years after, in the enjoy- 



ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 197 

ment of reasonable health, proving the literal truths of 
the written opinion I gave him. 

With results like these, being aided by the lung mea- 
surement method of conducting the cases under my care, 
I think I will be excused when I express a high estimate 
of its value. It relieves the physician from the most 
annoying uncertainty. Improvement, substantial im- 
provement, is not a matter of conjecture, of judgment, 
but of actual measurement ; on the other hand, the 
patient need not be led by deceitful ameliorations ; if the 
measurement steadily decreases, with unfavorable pulse 
and breathing, he may know that he is going to the 
grave, however well he may feel. And then again, there 
is another point, already referred to, but repeated here, 
from a conviction of its high value. f^lf When it is 
known, as it is in all cases, how ,much a man's lungs 
should measure, were they in perfectly healthful opera- 
tion, in full working order, if he applies to me for a 
thousand ailments, and on measuring him I find that he 
reaches the full healthful standard, I know that he can- 
not have consumptive disease, nor anything like it, what- 
ever else he may have. 

ILLUSTRATION. 

W. H. L. applied to me with various ailments, the 
more alarming to him, as his sister had died of Con- 
sumption some time before. On examination, his mea- 
sure was full, and with a corresponding pulse and 
breathing, I felt authorized to give him the fullest assur- 
ance of the perfect integrity of his lungs. Being a man 
of liberal education, I was at some pains to explain to 
him the grounds of my opinion, which proved most con- 
vincingly satisfactory to him : he felt that what ivas told 



198 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

him must be true, and in expressing his gratification in a 
letter afterwards, he said, " you cannot imagine the load 
that was taken off my mind on leaving your office ; I felt 
pleased with every body ; I felt as if I were in love with 
all mankind, and in my gladness, came near running 
over half a dozen people in the street before reaching 
my hotel." And at the end of four years there is 
scarcely a healthier man in a thousand ; in every respect 
healthy. This I know from his having continued to 
make me a yearly visit from old associations. 

E. R. E. 877. Applied to me in considerable alarm, 
from several suspicious symptoms, among which were 
gradual weakness and decline of flesh. He was not 
satisfied with my assurances of the perfect soundness of 
his lungs, as they exceeded the natural standard, but in- 
sisted from day to day, on repeated examinations. I re- 
fused to give him any medicine whatever, and with great 
misgivings he reluctantly turned his face homewards. I 
gave him some few directions as to his general health, 
which, he wrote me the next year, " was entirely re- 
stored ; was in every respect well." 

It cannot be necessary to give farther illustrations, and 
I accord fully with the sentiment expressed by Samuel 
Hare, M. R. C. S. E., of London, in his medical reports 
for 1847, having employed this means of diagnosis " for 
several years, the value of which I am constantly wit- 
nessing." See London Lancet, vol. 10, p. 38, for Nov., 
1847. Since this date, this new means of diagnosing; 
viz., of determining the existence of Consumption, be- 
came more and more common with European physicians, 
until its indications are given as a matter of course, 
without explanation, as if every medical reader was ex- 
pected to understand it. See Theophilus Thompson, F. 



ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 199 

R. S., &c, Physician to the London Hospital for diseases 
of the chest, reported in Braithwaithe, for January, 
1852. " W. G. age 42, pulse 84, respirations 28, height 
five feet two and a half inches, vital capacity 140." 

It will be seen by some extracts below : 

1st. The presence of* "pus" in the expectoration, is 
no evidence of the existence of Consumption. 

2d. That the inspection and measurement of the chest 
is not a reliable means for determining incipient Con- 
sumption. 

3d. That auscultation, nor stethescopy, nor any other 
means, can be depended on in any given case for deter- 
mining whether Consumption exists or not, whether or 
not the lungs are in a state of decay. 

These things being true, we bring the new method to 
our aid, with increasing satisfaction, premising however, 
that no one should be so thoughtless as to rely exclu- 
sively on any one, or two, or three symptoms in making 
up his mind as to the presence of Consumption in any 
case. 

" It is now known that the old supposition, that the 
presence of pus in the expectoration indicates the exist- 
ence of Consumption is totally incorrect, as it may be 
present in bronchitis and yet absent in Consumption." 
Ed. Braith., Bet. p. 78, part 24, 1852. 

" From the preceding observations, I think it must be 
evident that inspection and mensuration of the chest, 
(viz., taking the girth,) can seldom afford assistance in 
determining incipient Consumption." London J. Med. 
July, 1851, p. 616. R. P. Cotton. 

"I do not believe that in the present state of our 
knowledge we have any means of deciding positively, in 
many instances, between Consumption and dilated bron- 



200 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

chial tubes." Dr. Bennett, of St. Thomas's Hospital, 
London. 1850. 

That all other means are insufficient in determining 
correctly as to the existence of Consumption, I will give 
a case reported in the London Lancet for May, 1850, p. 
460. It occurred in 1828, the physician who was the 
reporter, was also the subject. " I expectorated a con- 
siderable quantity of pus, had constant, harassing, dis- 
tressing cough, spitting blood, night sweats ; and all the 
train of Consumptive symptoms were existing, and there 
was every appearance of a fatal termination. Dr. Hope, 
Dr. Wilson Philip, Dr. Maton, Dr. Eamadge, Dr. Tho- 
mas Davies, all considered the case hopeless." And 
yet this gentleman recovered, "and has continued in 
perfect health ever since f viz., from 1828 to 1850, a 
period of twenty-two years. This very interesting case 
proves several important points. 

1st. That all the means known to men among the 
most eminent in the medical profession in 1828, were 
not sufficient to enable them to form a correct opinion, or, 

2d. That a man may be in the hopeless stages of Con- 
sumption and yet recover, and be in good health twenty 
years afterwards. 

3d. That however hopeless a man may appear to be in 
Consumption, steady, unwavering, hopeful efforts should 
be made for his restoration to the last day of his ex- 
istence, although every one may consider it a hopeless 
case, and may think aloud that the physician knows but 
little, who persists in his efforts to save one so evidently 
near his end. 

4th. That all the old means of deciding being thus 
evidently insufficient, the new method at least merits a 
thorough examination, as it professes to do more towards 



ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION. 201 

supplying the want than all . other physical means 
together. And when it is known that an eminent 
professor has lectured approvingly on the subject, 
there is hope of its ultimate adoption in this coun- 
try, his name carrying with it an authority, not ex- 
ceeded by that of any other physician in the United 
States. 

With the advantages then which spirometry gives in 
detecting the early onset of consumptive disease : 

With my opinion as to the uniformity with which 
Consumption can be permanently cured in its first 
stages : 

With the idea that Consumption must be treated as a 
constitutional, and not a local disease : 

With the belief, that a cool and not a warm climate is 
better adapted to restoration from the ravages of Con- 
sumption in any and every stage : 

With the sentiment that cough is a curative process, 
and should not be repressed, as all opiates, anodynes, 
and patent medicines do, but should only be reached by 
eradicating the cause of cough, in using authorized means 
for building up the general health, such as the principles 
of scientific medicine indicate, principles advocated and 
practised upon by Hunter, Abernethy, Rush, Physic, and 
Hossack, of honored memory, and which the educated 
physician will fully understand at once without further 
designation : 

With the conviction that cod liver oil has no general 
applicability in consumptive disease, being injurious to 
some, impracticable to others, and inefficient as to a 
third class of patients, as its stoutest advocates, its 
warmest admirers allow, that in no case has it any di- 
rectly curative effect, being applicable mainly, if not ex- 



202 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

clusively to persons who are quite young, or to those 
who when well, were inclined to be corpulent, to be 
"fat:" 

With the proofs that statistics afford, that a sea or 
lake shore, or a prairie locality, aggravate Consump- 
tion: 

With strong practical evidence that sea voyages, 
unless continued for many months, far from shore, from 
"land cough" influences, are unfavorable in their in- 
fluences upon Phthisical disease : 

With these sentiments in reference to the nature of 
Consumption, adverse to the generally received opinions 
on the subject — what are the successes in the treat- 
ment, which after all is the highest proof of their cor- 
rectness % 

I will, in addition to those already given in these 
pages for the purpose of illustrating particular points, 
give two classes of cases, a few only of each, and 
I trust they will be conclusive as to the following 
points. 

First, showing with what uniformity persons are cured, 
and remain so after the expiration of years, who had 
the symptoms which usually attend the beginning of 
consumptive disease, and which are uniformly com- 
plained of by persons dying with Consumption, as the 
first symptoms which attracted their attention. 

Second, showing that persons, who to all appearance, 
and from the best means in our power for ascertaining 
the fact, give us reason to believe that they have Con- 
sumption in its advanced stages, do sometimes recover 
under a practice which the principles advocated in this 
book indicate, and for years after remain in reasonable 
good health. 



CASES CURED. 203 

Examples of cases cured, having the usual symptoms 
of threatened or beginning Consumption, such as cough, 
pains in the breast, falling away, shortness of breath. 

Miss M. E., Oct. 4th, 1843, pulse 90, pains in the 
small of the back, between the shoulder blades behind 
and through the breast; cold feet and hands; taken 
with a slight cough from exposure to -cold twelve 
months before ; chilliness, with white and frothy expec- 
toration. She recovered her health in a short time, 
married, and was alive and well, the mother of a family 
of children eight years afterwards as her husband in- 
formed me at my office in New York, at a subsequent 
date. 

W. S., aged 30, pulse 100, weakness and pain in small 
of back ; soreness between the shoulders all the time ; 
pain in the breast in front ; pains in both sides ; breast 
feels cold and chilly all over; great deal of general 
chilliness ; expectorates a dark yellow matter ; severe 
night sweats ; great deal of palpitation, poor appetite ; 
sleep very restless; friends much alarmed. He re- 
covered, married, and was the father of a family, and 
well in 1846, since w r hen I have heard nothing. 

T. B., aged 20, October 23d, 1843, pulse 83; bad 
taste, pain in head and both sides ; bad appetite, con- 
stant expectoration; principal symptoms cough, with 
gradual weakness and wasting. He recovered and was 
alive and well four years later, since when I have heard 
nothing. 

E. D., aged 20, Oct. 26, 1843, pulse 85, bitter taste, 
pain in head, small of back, hands and feet generally cold, 
costive; cough very troublesome and dry; expectora- 
tion streaked with blood ; was taken eight months be- 



204 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

fore with a bad cold ; slim form, dark hair and eyes. 
She married, and was well six years later. 

N. M., aged 30, Nov. 7th, 1843, merchant, pulse 96, 
bad taste, dry tongue ; pain in head and small of back ; 
and sometimes so much pain between the shoulder 
blades, as to prevent sleeping, pains along the breast- 
bone, and wheezing in breathirg; flying pains in both 
sides ; difficult breathing in .scents ; expectorated a 
tough phlegm ; linen made wet with sweating at night ; 
was taken seven months before with a very bad cold 
and cough, by exposure to a variable atmosphere and 
an open window ; his chief complaint was shortness of 
breathing ; he recovered his health, which remained good 
eight years later. 

M. J. W., aged 20, Nov. 10th, 1843, pulse 84, bad 
taste, tongue white and very dry of mornings ; pains in 
the shoulders and both sides, soreness between the 
shoulders, tolerably constant for six years ; frequent 
attacks of something like water brash ; chills run along 
the back ; general chilliness ; heat in hands sometimes, 
mostly in right cheek ; very troublesome cough ; blood 
expectorated several times ; tough, whitish expectora- 
tion, hard to come off until moving about freely ; was 
taken with pain in the right side, from being over- 
heated six years before ; father, uncle and mother's rela- 
tives had died of Consumption ; tall, dark hair, black 
eyes. She regained her health, married, became the 
mother of a family ; and at the end of eight years was 
alive and well. 

N. F., aged 22, Nov. 20th, 1843: bad taste ; head- 
ache ; pain in the side ; great deal of general chilliness ; 
feet often cold; difficult breathing; troublesome cough 
after lying down three or four hours ; hard at night, not 



CASES CURED. 205 

so easy as in the day time ; expectorated a yellow stuff 
with white frothy, bubbly substance. He regained his 
health, and August 12th, 1848, pulse 72. Measured 
300, and weighed 150 lbs. 

The above are cases taken from my note book in the 
fall of 1843, consecutive, of their kind, and from the 
fact of their being in good health some years later, it is 
evident that the good derived from the treatment was 
permanent. They are not given as cases cured of Con- 
sumption, but to show that persons who have the general, 
prominent features of Consumption, do readily get well 
and remain well for five, six, eight years after ; and the 
fair presumption is that, 

The same principles of treatment applied to persons 
having similar symptoms, will obtain equally gratifying 
results. 

Other like cases have occurred every year since, but 
these are considered sufficient to establish the principle, 
that the ordinary symptoms of beginning Consumption, 
are permanently removable when promptly attended to. 

SECOND CLASS OF CASES. 

Believing themselves, supposed by their friends and 
attending physicians, and to all appearance seeming, to be 
in the advanced stages of Consumption, who yet reco- 
vered, AND, SEVERAL YEARS AFTERWARDS WERE TO ALL 
APPEARANCE IN GOOD HEALTH. 

I. N. J. October 13th, 1843, aged 26, having a wife 
and one child. He was building a bridge at Louisville, 
Kentucky, was very much exposed to wind and water, 
and took a bad cold, which lingering some time, he call- 
ed in a physician, who prescribed for several months, 



206 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

and the patient still getting weaker and worse, he advis- 
ed him to return to his family, that he was in Consump- 
tion and he could not do anything for him. He did so, and 
two neighboring physicians were called in, one of whom 
had practised medicine in Pittsburgh for thirty years. 
After treating his case for several months without any 
apparent benefit, the man in the meantime having got so 
weak that he was only able to sit up in an arm chair while 
the bed was made up, they abandoned it as hopeless, and 
I was sent for. 

On entering the room I found a number of the neigh- 
bors present, the wife weeping by his side, the patient 
himself was asleep, lying on his back, his mouth open, 
his eyes half closed, showing the whites ; the face was 
very pale except some redness in the cheeks. He woke 
up with a wildness of expression in his eyes, and for a 
while spoke incoherently. His pulse was ninety-five, 
his breathing short and rapid, bad taste in the mouth, 
pains between the shoulder blades behind, along the 
breast bone, through the breast and at the pit of the 
stomach, some little pain in the side, headache, bowels 
costive, great nervousness with difficult breathing, cough 
very troublesome, exciting nausea and vomiting ; had fre- 
quent night sweats and spitting of blood a year ago, had 
great weakness and was much emaciated, had a daily 
morning chill and a craving appetite. He was taken 
two years before with weakness and spitting of blood, 
occasioned by lifting and hard work in making bridges. 

Having left a prescription with the family, I heard 
nothing of this man for four days, not knowing whether 
he was living. His physician having stated he would 
give me a thousand dollars if I would raise him up, I 
had some desire to succeed. 



CASES CURED. 207 

On the fourth day I received a note, saying : " night 
sweats gone, feel very well this morning, pulse ninety ; 
am walking about." Whether this was written by him- 
self or by his direction, I do not now recollect. 

On the fifteenth day from the time I first saw him he 
rode to my office, four miles, and returned without any 
inconvenience. 

At a later date he sent me word that he believed he 
had caught cold by loading a wagon with corn in the 
corn-field ; this was about the first of November. He 
continued to improve, and was dismissed. The next 
summer he called to see me, having gained in flesh some 
fifty pounds. 

In July, 1847, this patient reported himself at my 
office, and appeared to be in every respect a well man. 
He was on his way to the South, where I believe he af- 
terwards died of yellow fever. The treatment of this 
case was published several years ago in the book pre- 
viously referred to. 

The same principles of treatment were equally efficient 
in a case of a more recent date. 

517. June 10th, R. B., aged 28 ; merchant, six feet 
high, wanting half an inch, slender made, had weighed 
one hundred and sixty pounds, now weighed one hun- 
dred and eighteen, pulse 100 in a minute, had a constant 
pain in the breast, could not cough without pain ; he 
was very sorely afflicted with piles, exhausting night 
sweats, great weakness, jaws were flat, thin, and sunken, 
the eyes were large, round, and blue ; thin, lank, light 
hair ; he would stagger out of my office with sheer de- 
bility ; he was a Scotchman ; I never knew a man of 
more honorable bearing ; he was possessed of singular 
mildness of character ; under the most acute suffering, 



208 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

when calamity was piled upon calamity, he seemed to 
have increasing acquiescence in the Almighty's will, 
and yet was resolute in his endeavors for a restoration 
to health. His night sweats became perfectly drench- 
ing, and nothing could control them. There seemed to 
be a large collection of matter in the hinder part of the 
lungs, and the accumulation became so great at length, 
that the pain was almost insupportable day and night. 
The piles were so bad as to prevent his sitting down 
without pain, and for the same reason the pain in his 
breast would not allow him to lie down in any natural 
position : his lungs contained 172 cubic inches of air in- 
stead of 258, and altogether fcie case was discouragingly 
hopeless. I told him that it was essential to his safety 
to get clear of the large accumulation of matter in the 
lungs, and that I knew no way of accomplishing that 
but by increasing his cough, in the hope that it would 
enable him to throw it up freely. As most consumptive 
persons are inclined to cough more in some positions 
than in others, I directed him to observe what position 
in his case inclined him to cough most, and to maintain 
that position for a great part of the time ; but this did 
not avail ; fomentations of strong liniment, the skin 
rubbed and cloths saturated in hartshorn and alcohol 
bound on the parts seemed to do no good, while the 
daily accumulations were going on ; he could get no rest 
at night ; I was afraid for his mind, as want of sleep is 
a frequent cause of insanity. As a last resort, I admin- 
istered, freely, quinine and elixir vitriol to have a con- 
stringing effect on the system. I was induced to do this, 
from having persons tell me after taking it for several 
days, that their cough was worse. I took means at the 
same time for relieving the piles; his strength improved 



CASES CURED. 209 

a little, and the pain decreased from freer expectoration. 
It was now the middle of July, and the city was insuf- 
ferably hot and dusty, and although he was scarce able 
to walk across the street without great fatigue, I advised 
him to go at once to Canada, believing that a fresher, 
purer, and cooler air at a country residence would do 
him more good that all the medicine. I told him I 
thought he would die if he remained in the city — and 
although his recovery was extremely doubtful under any 
circumstances, I believed that such a change of locality 
presented the highest probability of recovery. He did 
not think he would be able to reach the lakes, but un- 
dertook the journey. He reached the Falls of Niagara 
in safety ; but on his arrival a horse fractured one of 
his leg bones by a kick ; and to show his own views 
of his condition, I here give a few words from a letter 
dated July 23 : "I hope to spend the few days I shall 
linger out here, in making a perfect preparation for that 
place where our state is irreversibly and forever fixed." 

Six months afterwards, I met a gentleman in New 
Orleans, in crossing a street, and thinking him the bro- 
ther of this patient, I stopped him to inquire, although 
he was walking rapidly ; but it was my patient himself, 
just returned in a ship from New York. He had no 
symptoms of any disease, and seemed in every respect 
well, his lungs having nearly regained their natural 
capacity : they never could do that altogether, unless by 
long training, because they had in part decayed away. 

In all my practice, I never had a more remarkable 
case of recovery than this ; by the mercantile house in 
New Orleans through which he was introduced to me 
it was regarded and spoken of as " almost miraculous." 
As far as I know, he remains well to this day. He cor- 



210 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

responded with me while he was in Canada, and kept up 
rigorously, the directions given him. 

In reference to the fears which consumptives have of 
going out of doors, and their imagined inability to take 
exercise, the Author gives, as a confirmation of his 
views, an extract from a letter, written by this gentle- 
man, a few days after he left; the reader bearing in 
mind, that he himself feared he would not reach Canada, 
by rail-road. 

" I take the liberty of informing you how I got along 
since leaving Cincinnati. I am happy to say, that not- 
withstanding the fatigue I experienced during the jour- 
ney, having had to sit up all night in the cars, I have 
stood it beyond my most sanguine expectations." 

More than a year after the above was first written, a 
gentleman came into my office, the picture of health, in 
manly prime, to make some adequate return for benefits 
derived from my treatment ; as he was wholly unknown 
to me, I requested his name, and experienced a quiet 
and pure happiness, on hearing the name of the above 
case. On examination, he weighed more than he had 
ever done in his life, his lungs reached over their full, 
requisite measurement, he had long ceased to use any 
medicinal means, and since our last interview, had en- 
joyed uninterrupted good health. 

Whatever success the Author may have had in the 
treatment and permanent cure of the diseases named in 
this book, and in the cure also of aggravated cases of 
dyspepsia, which accompany these ailments often, and 
has to be cured before the treatment of the principal dis- 
ease can be successfully prosecuted, he attributes it to 
the application of the principles involved in the illus- 
trations above given : modified, indeed according to 



CASES CURED. . 211 

symptoms, causes, age, sex, and constitution. He trusts 
that their application will hold good, with increasing 
success, in all time to come. 

A class of cases having the prominent symptoms of Con- 
sumption in its advanced stages, and yet known not to 
have Consumption, because the lungs maintained their 
healthy standard. 

Dec. 4th, 1848. C. A. G. applied for medical advice. 
The principal symptoms were cough, weakness, and fall- 
ing away, with a severe pain in the right side, low down, 
and rather behind. While under my care he rapidly de- 
clined in flesh, and strength, and at the end of two weeks 
was not able to leave his bed. The cough was such, 
that it was not possible for him to have any continuous 
sleep, and in the mornings he appeared weary, haggard, 
and wretched. In the meantime his appetite declined, 
the pain at the part designated, became gradually 
worse, and when he would cough, it was almost in sup 
portable ; large quantities of yellow matter were expec 
torated ; at length he exclaimed, " I must have relief or 
die." The persons about him fully believed that he w T as 
sinking with Consumption, and were confirmed in their 
views by the opinion of a young physician, a relative of 
the patient, which was, that he was in a dying condition, 
that he could not recover, and that it was confirmed 
Consumption. So far from coinciding with these views, 
I informed the patient that the worst was over, and that 
I believed he would recover without the use of any more 
medicine. In a short time he was able to leave town with 
such general directions as the case seemed to require, 
taking only some application to apply to the whole sur- 
face of the body daily, to cleanse and stimulate the skin. 



212 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

In a short time the whole surface of the body broke out 
in pimples or splotches, and he got rapidly well, and re- 
mained in good health, at the end of three years weigh- 
ing over two hundred pounds. 

The experienced physician will recognize this as a case 
of abscess of the liver, and to this were all my remedies 
directed at the time. During his whole illness his lungs 
measured to their full standard. 

677. D. C. P. A woman in middle life entered my 
office from a carriage at the door, so exhausted when she 
came in, that she was compelled to lie at full length on 
the sofa, with a cushion and pillow under her head. 
After resting some time, her pulse was 110, and breath- 
ing thirty times in a minute ; conversation tired her very 
much, so I questioned her husband. "Has been com- 
plaining and doctoring for the liver three years, has had 
five children, with several miscarriages ; but for several 
weeks past has been complaining, and generally getting 
worse, until she is now just moving about, lying down a 
great deal, and for the last day or two lying down most 
of the time, her back and left shoulder hurting her so ; 
her medical attendant has been sent for three times, but 
has not come, as (so reported) he can do nothing more 
for her. She has exhausting fever coming on regularly 
every day, with drenching and debilitating night sweats, 
most distressing and exhausting cough all night, spitting 
up large mouthfuls of heavy yellow matter, no appetite 
whatever, and bowels bound up. The cough is so dis- 
tressing that she can scarcely sleep at all ; a deathly 
chill comes on every morning about five o'clock, and at 
that time the cough is terrible ; she has lost forty pounds 
of flesh." 



CASES CURED. 213 



S5 



f cold her husband that I could not promise anything 
that cases of the kind generally died in from three to 
thirty days, and if she did not die in that time, she 
would got well. I told a gentleman, a near neighbor of 
her's, who felt interested to inquire about her, that she 
could live but a short time, in all probability. 

Two or three days after she first came to me, her hus- 
band careduponme in considerable alarm, as he thought 
her to b": in a dying condition. 

I nam i these things to show how low she was to all 
appearance. 

With:" n five weeks she walked to my office without 
special fatigue, a distance of half a mile, up and down 
hill, of a cold windy day. Pulse sixty-eight, regular, 
strong and full, breathing twenty-four, no cough at 
night, none at all at any time worth naming, appetite 
very good, bowels regular, no pain, no night sweats, no 
fevers. 

In ten days more she called again, breathing twenty, 
pulse seventy-six, and the capacity of her lungs for 
holding air very near that of health, not needing farther 
medical advice. Here was a case that I considered 
almost hopeless, believed by the patient herself, her 
husband, her physician and her neighbors, to be one in 
the very last stages of Consumption, and yet she got 
well. 

Two days ago she came to my office, having walked 
the distance with a child nine months old in her arms, 
about which she wished to consult me. She seemed 
herself in excellent health, stating that she weighed one 
hundred and forty-five pounds ; at the time she came 
to me her reported weight was one hundred pounds, 
whether from conjecture or actual weight I do not know. 



214 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

She stated also that during the last week she had done 
the cooking and washing of the whole family, consisting 
of nine persons, besides nursing her infant a great part 
of the time, as it was barely expected to live. 

This patient was too weak at her first visit to allow 
me to examine her by the new method, and I was 
obliged to form an opinion from the old mode of exami- 
nation, auscultation, &c, and from her remarkable and 
rapid recovery and restoration to her full flesh in the 
space of two months, I feel certain that her's was more 
a case of liver abscess than of lung disease. 

Two important lessons may be learned from this in- 
teresting case : 

First, That no one ought to be given up to die with- 
out a strenuous effort to save, however forbidding the 
symptoms may be. 

Second, That other ailments strongly simulate Con- 
sumption. 

Three years after, I learned that this woman was in the 
enjoyment of reasonable health, having borne one child 
in the mean time, besides raising one who was an in- 
fant of a few months old when I was first called in. 

A Southern planter called upon me, on his way to 
the West Indies, in pursuit of health. His prevailing 
symptoms were a most incessant cough, day and night ; 
it had taken away his appetite and sleep ; he had been 
a large portly man, but had fallen off so much that his 
skin was wrinkled, and his clothing appeared lost on 
him ; he w T as haggard and dispirited in the extreme. He 
had night sweats, and a constant, fixed pain in the centre 
of the breast. His friends had given him up. His 
banker said to me, in a very cold, business-like, confi- 
dent way — " He is too far gone to be saved. Do you 



CASES CURED. 215 

think you will be able to do the old gentleman any- 
good ? His family scarcely expect to see him return." 
He was very costive, and complained much of debility ; 
that his coughing and expectoration weakened him very 
much. His tongue was dry and furred, and he was very 
much troubled with shortness of breath. Conversation, 
exercise, going up stairs, coming into a room from out 
doors, invariably excited a most distressing dry cough, 
and he had no appetite for anything. His pulse was 
ninety-five a minute. Upon examination, I gave my un- 
hesitating opinion, that his was not a case of Consump- 
tion. This opinion gave him great uneasiness, for he 
had evidently come to me with high expectations, and 
that I should give such an opinion, in the face of what 
every body believed, himself included, caused him to 
apprehend that I did not understand his disease, and of 
course could do him no good ; it was like abandoning a 
last hope of life. Had I told him at once, that it was a 
plain case of Consumption, but that I would certainly 
cure him in a short time, he would have been much 
better satisfied. He had a great many questions, un- 
answerable, as he imagined, to propose to me. How is 
it that I cough so much % Where do these night sweats 
come from % If my lungs are not diseased, how is it 
that I have this incessant pain in the breast % If my 
lungs are not giving way, why have I fallen off so much, 
and have such shortness of breath, that I am tired to 
death when I go up stairs? Every day or two he 
wanted me to examine him again, saying he was afraid 
I had made a mistake. To all this I replied, that his 
was a clear case of Throat disease, and that he would 
soon be satisfied of that fact. I gave several prescrip- 
tions for the throat affection, and by properly regu- 



216 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

lating the general system, I find an entry in my note 
book, some eight weeks afterwards to this effect : 

" Returned in good health and fine spirits ; appetite 
excellent ; sleep is delicious, without any artificial 
means ; breathing sixteen ; pulse seventy-two ; natural 
ruddiness returned to him ; sleeps on either side with 
perfect ease, which has not been done for a long time 
before ; not the slightest remnant of pain in the breast, 
for the last month ; weariness in walking, and shortness 
of breath have entirely disappeared." 

In this case, the cough was not entirely removed, 
which was attributable to a singular accident which had 
befallen him, and which would probably cause some 
cough, as long as he lived ; but not sufficient to make it 
necessary to take anything for it, or to be called trouble- 
some. At the same time, I believe, if he could have 
been induced to live on plain diet, and to leave off the 
use of tobacco altogether, the remnant of cough would 
soon have entirely disappeared. The immoderate use of 
tobacco, by smoking or chewing, is a cause of disease 
of the throat, in a number of instances ; and whether a 
cause or not, a perfect cure is almost impossible, unless 
it is wholly abandoned, in every shape and form. 

About one year after the above was first published, I 
learned that this gentleman died from " free living ;" 
what was the full meaning of that expression I do not 
know. 

Other cases might be given from my own practice, 
but I will give the five following from the medical re- 
ports of others, showing how many of the symptoms 
of Consumption persons may have, and yet the lungs 
be entirely sound ; and showing, at the same time, the 



PROMPT ATTENTION AND ADVICE NECESSARY. 217 

necessity of applying to competent and experienced per 
sons to decide so important a. question. 

A female, aged 30, was very subject to taking cold ; 
this ended in spitting blood, and great difficulty in breath- 
ing ; pain in the throat ; hoarse voice ; frequent pulse, 
night sweats ; she died in six months, and on opening the 
body the lungs were found to be entirely healthy, and the 
whole disease seated in the larynx and windpipe. 

A man, aged 30, very liable to take cold, had been 
sick a long time ; considerable spitting of blood, at dif- 
ferent times ; face lean ; loss of voice ; painful and 
fatiguing cough ; brings up mucus and yellow matter ; 
obstinate diarrhoea. He died ; the three last days being 
passed in extreme suffering and agony. On opening the 
breast, the lungs presented no unusual appearance. The 
disease was at the upper part of the windpipe, which 
was ulcerated. 

A youth of 18, had pain in the throat ; voice changed ; 
spit up sometimes mouthfuls of frothy red blood ; frequent 
general chills ; great falling off; pale and sharp features ; 
cheeks red; spit up lumps of yellow matter; frequent 
pulse; night sweats; difficult breathing; and death 
within a year. On opening his body, there was found 
no ulceration in the lungs, but the upper part of the 
windpipe, about the voice-making organs, was ulcerated. 

A man, aged 49, had a harsh dry cough ; expectorated 
a whitish, thick stuff, sometimes with blood, frothy, with 
little masses of matter scattered through it. He died, 
but no tubercles were found in the lungs. 

A boy, of 15, became addicted to bad habits; in four 
years he began to experience pain in the throat ; the 
voice altered, became shrill at first, and was then en- 
tirely lost; swallowing liquids became impossible; he 

10 



218 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

expectorated large quantities of matter, and died after a 
year's illness. The lungs were found entirely sound, 
but the whole throat was ulcerated. 

From a similar cause, cases are reported, in which 
Bronchitis, or a form of it arises, ending fatally. In cases 
of Throat-ail and Consumptive disease, this cause and 
even marital allowances, too much extended, debilitate 
the system sometimes, and baffle all the efforts of the 
physician. All persons under treatment will be benefited 
by a practical remembrance of this item. 

If there are exhausting occurrences, communication 
should be made to the physician frankly, without the 
necessity of special inquiry, in order that either of the 
difficulties above named may be remedied as soon as 
practicable, for the cure of the main disease cannot be 
forwarded, until this is done ; and considering the uni- 
formity of, and the means used to accomplish both the 
above, it is rather surprising, that so much suffering in 
body, and wretchedness and depression of mind, should 
be endured so long by many, before efforts are made for 
cure. 

SUSPICIOUS SYMPTOMS. 

It may be of practical advantage to name some of the 
far off symptoms of approaching Consumption, any two 
or three of which, existing for two or three months or 
more, should excite watchful attention, and I state them, 
from a fixed conviction of their truth, founded on re- 
peated observation. 

A pulse habitually accelerated beyond the natural 
standard. 

An occasional slight hack or cough, on lying down at 
night, without apparent cause, as if a particle of dust had 
got int o the throat ; or on getting up in the morning. 



SUSPICIOUS SYMPTOMS. 219 

A frequent feeling as if you wanted to do something 
with the arms, seeking some kind of support for them. 

A striking, remarkable weakness, or giving way of 
the knees and legs on going up stairs, or ascending a 
hill. 

To be in a condition in which " the least thing in the 
world gives you a cold." 

When coldness of the feet strikes on the throat, and 
produces a slight burning or sore feeling. 

To be very easy to have a chilly feeling run over you, 
on going out of doors when it is a little cold. 

To feel chilly when you get up from your meals. 

To be restless, and " can't go to sleep," when you 
first retire to bed, for months together. 

Spitting blood in any quantity, from a drop to a pint 
or more, once in a few days, or weeks, or years. 

A feeling of weakness, which has crept on you so gra- 
dually, you do not know when it began ; and yet, with- 
out apparent cause, it seems to be increasing. 

No special relish for food, yet no uneasiness amount- 
ing to actual pain anywhere, together with a want of 
interest in what is going on around you ; a growing in- 
difference to every thing. 

It frequently occurring that one, two and three days 
will pass without an action of the bowels, unless medi- 
cine is used. 

Frequently recurring, although slight pains in the 
breast, side, or between the shoulders. 

A general decline of flesh and strength, painless and 
without appreciable cause. 

These are the far off friendly monitors of danger, the 
faint beginnings of disease. They do not constitute Con- 
sumption. In some instances they mean nothing, for 



220 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

they pass off in a few days ; but when weeks go by, and 
any two or three of them still stick to you, there is 
reason for alarm ; and not a day should be permitted to 
pass, until you have commenced measures, under the ad- 
vice of a careful physician, for their removal. A drop 
of water may check the spark which would lay the 
fairest city in ruins, and the unmoved avalanche be kept 
in its place by an infant's arm, but, a moment's delay, 
and how resistless ! 

THE PRINCIPLES OF CURE. 

The mode and means of cure may be various in dif- 
ferent hands, just as in any other disease ; fever and ague, 
for example, is cured by different remedies, but the 
principles of cure must be forever the same, and which 
in phthisis are — 

To secure the highest possible general health. 

To relieve the system of the slightest febrile condition. 

To secure a free, regular, daily action of the bowels 
without medicine. 

To obtain the absorption of tubercles. 

To evacuate abscesses, and cause their immediate and 
permanent healing. 

To bring about promptly, an immediate reduction 
and banishment of all inflammatory action, and at the 
same time, add to the strength of the patient, discarding 
absolutely the employment of any debilitating remedies, 
even for a single day. 

To bring into the fullest requisition, the complete and 
healthy action of every line of lung substance, so as to 
secure, day and night, without intermission, the largest 
supply, reception, and consumption of pure, fresh, bra- 
cing air. that it is possible to obtain. These are the points 



PRINCIPLES OF CURE. 221 

which in every instance I labor to attain, and without 
which, no case of tubercular Consumption ever has been 
cured or ever will be. These objects are to be reached 
by no routine practice, but by adapting the nature, and 
strength, and constituents of the remedies, to the parti- 
cular and varying condition of each individual patient, 
taking into minute account, in every case, the previous 
history, size, age, sex, strength, constitution, tempera- 
ment, occupation, habits and hereditary influences, as far 
as it is possible to ascertain these facts. 

The grand and essential points in any case of phthisis 
cured are these : 

To subdue entirely congestion or inflammation, and 
build up the strength of the constitution at the same 
time. 

To promote absorption of tubercles. 

To evacuate abscesses, bring their opposite sides in 
contact and cause them to heal. 

In reference to the lung measurement method, by 
by which Consumption may be determined in its form- 
ing stages, when alone a cure can be reasonably hoped for, 
the London Lancet says, " In this way it is proven by 
actual experiment, that a man's lungs, found after death 
to have been tuberculated to the extent of one cubic inch, 
had been by that amount of tubercularization controlled 
in their action to the extent of more than forty inches." 
It is very apparent then, that this mode of examination 
detects the presence of tubercles in their earliest forma- 
tion, which is in fact the only time to attack Consump- 
tion successfully and surely ; and when attempted at the 
early stage, before it is at all fixed in the system, the 
certainty of success in warding off the danger, of curing 
the disease, is as great as that of warding off the cholera 



222 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

or perfectly curing it, if attempted at the first appear- 
ance of the premonitory symptoms, and as when cholera 
is present in a community, every person who has three 
or more passages from the bowels within twenty-four 
hours ought to be considered as attacked with cholera, 
and should act accordingly, so when a man has tubercles 
in his lungs to the extent of impairing their functions 
for a dozen inches, that is, when his lungs do not, with 
other symptoms, hold enough air by a dozen inches, he 
should consider himself as having Consumption, and 
should act accordingly and with the assurance that in 
four cases out of five, human life would be saved by it. 
And as thousands have died with cholera by hoping they 
did not have it, or denying they had it, although warned 
by the usual symptoms of its commencement, until its 
existence was so apparent to the commonest observer as 
to render a hope of cure impossible, so precisely isjt in 
Consumption, people will not take warning of the symp- 
toms in their own persons, which have in thousands of 
others terminated in certain death, but go on day after 
day without reason, hoping that the symptoms will go 
away of themselves, and steadily deny that they have 
the disease, until remedy is hopeless. 

I have already said, that when Consumption has once 
fixed itself in the system, recovery is not probable ; but 
if the disease is not fixed, and is only in its commence- 
ment, it may be with great certainty distinguished in its 
early stage, by the new means which I have advocated ; 
and in very many instances averted ; not so much by 
" taking things," as by letting them alone : not by con- 
fining the natural motion of the limbs by braces and 
supporters, but by allowing them the freest possible ac- 
tion : not by the application of Blisters and Plasters, which 



PRINCIPLES OF CURE. 223 

only interfere with the natural action of the skin, but by 
exciting and promoting that natural action : not by ad- 
ministering expectorants, which only weaken the system 
by hastening its drains, and producing nausea, but by re- 
gulating and controlling these drains, the expectoration 
being loosened by nature's means, when desirable. In 
consumption, I give nothing to purge, or which can 
have any continued weakening effect ; I give no artifi- 
cial stimulant, which requires to be increased in fre- 
quency or quantity, or loses its effect altogether, or at 
last requires so much as to injure the tone of the 
stomach by preventing it from deriving proper nourish- 
ment from the food, while the patient rapidly sinks into 
the grave after having given a glowing certificate, or told 
dozens of people what a wonderful effect the syrup was 
having in his case. This is the true history of all the 
" syrups," " cough mixtures," and " wild cherry balsams," 
sold in the shops for coughs, cold and consumption ; and 
without doubt the reader can easily recollect cases 
among his neighbors, such as I have detailed. 

I give no medicine to increase the expectoration, be- 
cause the lungs are already expectorated away too fast. 
I give no medicine to remove the cough or smother 
it, for cough is the agent which nature sends to re- 
move accumulations from the lungs, otherwise they 
would fill up and the patient would suffocate. I do not 
confine a patient in-doors, but keep him out as much as 
possible. I do not send them to a warm climate, if sent 
they must be, but to a colder and more bracing one — to 
a more condensed and purer atmosphere. I do not coun- 
sel them to leave the facilities and comforts and atten- 
tion of home, to pine away in some distant country 
tavern, or boarding house, or fashionable hotel — these 



224 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

are not the places for a body worn away by disease, and 
wasted by long nights of incessant cough or drenching 
night sweats, cold and clammy as the grave ; nor for a 
mind made timid by constant pain, and weakened by its 
own incessant and restless workings. If any man in the 
wide world needs them, it is the consumptive, who 
should have around him every comfort, every conveni- 
ence, every facility which unbounded wealth or undying 
affection can procure. The light step, the soft whisper, 
the affectionate inquiry, the cheerful voice, the friendly 
smile, the tireless watching, and the sleepless eye — all 
these, and a thousand other nameless attentions, he 
needs, and needs them every day and every hour. To 
leave home for any length of time is advice which ought 
never to be given in a case of decided consumption ; it 
is not applicable in any stage of actual consumptive dis- 
ease, and an observant practitioner will never give it. 
Voyages at sea, and locations on the seashore or lake 
coasts, are unsuitable, pernicious, and deadly in their 
ultimate effects. 

I wish it could be as deeply felt as it is strictly true, 
throughout this broad continent, in every mansion of its 
merchant princes, in every fisherman's hut and squatter's 
cabin, that the permanent arrest of consumptive disease 
in its latter stages and its effectual eradication when only 
in its first beginnings, is to be accomplished by one and 
the same system of means, and which no internal medicine 
hitherto known to man has ever yet been able singly to 
accomplish. 

In the treatment of any case purely consumptive, two 
things only are needed, and they are needed always, and 
under all circumstances : 

A greater consumption of pure, fresh, cool air. 



PRINCIPLES OF CURE. 225 

A greater digestion of nutritious food. 

A man must have more air for his lungs, and more 
flesh for his body. A consumptive is always short of 
breath and deficient in flesh. No medicine can ever 
give air to the lungs, nor can it impart nutriment to the 
system. It is the pure air which the lungs receive which 
purifies the blood, and it is plain, substantial food intro- 
duced into the stomach which gives nutriment and 
strength and flesh to the system. My practice, there- 
fore, in simple consumptive disease is, to force the lungs 
to consume a larger and larger quantity of pure, fresh, 
cool air every day, and to cause the digestive apparatus 
to derive from the food a greater and greater amount of 
nutriment ; hence, as my patients are getting well, they 
walk faster, run farther without fatigue, eat more food, 
digest it better, and consequently increase in flesh, and 
while this is going on, the cough, in all curable cases, 
gradually and spontaneously disappears, without doing 
anything for it ; it disappears because it is eradicated, 
and not because it is smothered up by balsams, drops, 
syrups, and all the long catalogue of life-destroying 
poisons, which are sold under the name of patent medi- 
cines, by the unsuspecting in their credulity, or by the 
unprincipled, in their wilful recklessness of human life. 

One of the greatest difficulties in the successful treat- 
ment of Consumption is, that the stomach and bowels 
are deranged ; the appetite may be moderately good, 
and the bowels for the most part regular, yet for all 
that, they are not in a condition sufficiently healthful to 
impart to the system the nutriment which the food con- 
tains, but which they are not able to eliminate; hence, 
the universal complaint, what I eat docs not seem to 
strengthen me any ; but this very condition is always and 
10* 



226 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

inevitably aggravated by every dose of patent medicine 
swallowed for coughs and the like; because every one of 
them, without any exception, as every respectable phy- 
sician knows, and every honest, intelligent druggist will 
acknowledge, has more or less opium in some form or 
other, and this is impossible to be taken, even a single 
time, without having a tendency to make the liver 
torpid, to derange the stomach, and to constipate the 
bowels. 

I do not wish it to be understood that I give no inter- 
nal medicine under any circumstances, nor that I un- 
dervalue its remedial efficacy, but simply that it ought 
not to be taken except by the advice of an experienced 
physician, and not on the responsibility of the patient 
or some more ignorant adviser. 

The best physicians in the land, with the experience 
and skill of a quarter of a century, but too often fail to 
conduct a case of common consumption of the lungs to 
a favorable and successful terminati< >n. I must say that 
any unprofessional man who could be tempted to tinker 
with his constitution, from any knowledge which he 
could gain from any source in a month or in a much 
longer period, when he would not be willing, without 
special instruction, to attempt the mending of an old 
shoe, such a man, to say the least of it, runs a fearful 
risk. 

DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 

I here confine my attention to the one disease called 
variously Chronic Laryngitis, Clergyman's Sore Throat ; 
Throat- Ail. There are two forms of it : one, coming on 
in the course of a night, ending in restoration or death 
in a few days or hours sometimes, is called Acute Laryn- 
gitis. By this disease, then known little of, Washington 



DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 227 

was attacked on Friday night, and died Saturday night, 
in consequence of being out on his farm during Friday, 
a cold, raw, drizly day in December, at Mount Vernon. 
The account given is as follows : 

" Some time on the night of Friday, December 13, 
1799, General Washington, having been exposed to rain 
on the previous day, was attacked with an inflammatory 
affection of the upper part of the windpipe. The disease 
commenced with a violent ague, accompanied with some 
pain in the upper and lower part of the throat, a sense 
of stricture in the same part, a cough and a difficult 
rather than a painful breathing deglutition, which were 
soon succeeded by fever and a quick and laborious 
respiration. The necessity of blood-letting suggesting 
itself to the General, he procured a bleeder in the neigh- 
borhood, who took from his arm in the night twelve or 
fourteen ounces of blood. He could not, by any means, 
be prevailed on by the family physician to send for the 
attending physician till the following morning, who ar- 
rived at Mount Vernon about eleven o'clock on Satur- 
day. Discovering the case to be highly alarming, and 
foreseeing the fatal tendency of the disease, two consult- 
ing physicians were immediately sent for, who arrived, 
one at half after three, and the other at four o'clock in 
the afternoon. In the mean time were employed two 
pretty copious bleedings; a blister was applied to the 
part affected, two moderate doses of calomel were given, 
and an injection was administered, which operated on the 
lower intestines ; but all without any perceptible advan- 
tage, the respiration becoming still more difficult and 
distressing. Upon the arrival of the first of the consult- 
ing physicians, it was agreed, as there were yet no signs 
of accumulation in the bronchial vessels of the lungs, to 



228 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

try the result of another bleeding, when about thirty- 
two ounces of blood were drawn without the smallest 
apparent alleviation of the disease. Vapors of vinegar 
and water were frequently inhaled, ten grains of calomel 
were given, succeeded by repeated doses of tartar 
emetic, amounting in all to five or six grains, with no 
other effect than a copious discharge from the bowels. 
The powers of life seemed now manifestly yielding to 
the force of the disorder. Blisters were applied to the 
extremities, together with a cataplasm of bran and 
vinegar to the throat. Speaking, which was painful 
from the beginning, now became almost impracticable. 
Kespiration grew more and more contracted and imper- 
fect, till half after eleven on Saturday night, when he 
expired without a struggle, retaining the full possession 
of his intellect. 

" He was fully impressed at the beginning of his com- 
plaint, as well as through every succeeding stage of it, 
that its conclusion would be mortal ; submitting to the 
several exertions which were made for his recovery, 
rather as a duty, than from any expectation of their effi- 
ciency. He considered the operation of death, upon his 
system as coeval with the disease ; and several hours 
before his death, after repeated efforts to be understood, 
succeeded in expressing his desire that he might be per- 
mitted to die without further interruption. 

" During the short period of his illness he economized 
his time in the arrangement of such few concerns as re- 
quired his attention, with the utmost serenity ; and anti- 
cipated his approaching dissolution with every demon- 
stration of that equanimity for which his whole life had 
been so uniformly conspicuous. 

" This account is dated Alexandria, Virginia, Decern- 



DISEASES OF THE THROAT. 229 

ber 21, 1799, and signed by Dr. James Craik, his at- 
tending physician, and Dr. Elisha Dick, his consulting 
physician. Thus died one of the greatest and most dis- 
tinguished men of any age or nation, in the last hour of 
the last day of the week, in the last month of the year 
in the last year of the last century, in his 68th year. 
The violent ague with which this commenced was doubt- 
less the rigor of incipient inflammation. 

" The pain and sense of stricture in the upper and 
fore part of the throat, and the labor of breathing, 
showed that the inflammation was seated in the larynx." 

The more immediate cause of the attack was stand- 
ing on the damp ground for some time, looking at 
some workmen. Inflammatory diseases are more vio- 
lent and fatal in large persons like Washington, who was 
six feet high ; his head measured seven and a half inches, 
and he weighed, in 1778, two hundred and nine pounds. 

And it is not uncommon for persons to feel a kind of 
burning or raw sensation in the throat when their feet 
have become damp or cold, and remained so for some 
time. In others it is the first warning that a cold has 
been taken, given sometimes at midnight when the per- 
son had retired in usual health ; this was the case with 
Washington. In all such sudden attacks at night, a per- 
son should send for a physician at once, then have a 
mustard plaster put to the throat, a thin piece of wetted 
paper or muslin intervening between the mustard and 
the skin, to keep it from raising a blister and breaking 
the skin ; let the plaster be made of vinegar and mus- 
tard only ; then put the feet in hot water, with one or 
two, or three tablespoons of ground mustard stirred up 
in a gallon of the water, which should be in a wooden 
vessel, this will bring the water over half leg deep ; 



230 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

keep adding more hot water from time to time for 
half an hour, so that the water shall be hotter when the 
feet are taken out than when put in ; at the end of the 
half hour, the patient being wrapped up well all the 
time in a good thick blanket, drinking as much cold 
water as he desires, wipe the feet dry, hold them by 
the fire, rubbing them with the hands until perfectly dry 
and warm, especially between the toes and at the heels, 
get into bed with bottles of hot water to the feet ; these 
bottles should be only three-fourths filled with water, 
should be well stopped, and be wrapped up, each bottle 
in a small piece of woollen flannel, with the edges of the 
flannel turned in so as to be an additional aid in keep- 
ing the cork in ; additional bed clothing should be placed 
from the upper part of the thighs downwards, and as 
little as consistent with preventing chilliness on the 
upper part of the person, the bed clothing to be well 
tucked in at the sides, until the arrival of the physician. 
These directions are given, not as a cure, except in mild 
cases, but in order to save time, for, as is seen above, it 
is, if at all violent, a rapidly progressing, and speedily 
fatal disease. 

The reason of its fatality is, that there is inflammation. 
The minute blood vessels are over distended with angry, 
inflammatory blood, and the chink of the glottis, that is, 
the entrance at the top of the windpipe, through which 
the air must pass to the lungs, and it can reach them 
in no other way, is very narrow, and is easily filled up 
by these blood vessels being so swollen with the un- 
usual amount of blood in them, that they more or less 
completely occupy the passage designed for the breath, 
and besides this, the more watery portion of the blood is 
exuded through the delicate sides of the little blood 



CROUP OF CHILDREN, ETC. 331 

vessels into the interstices, and causes additional swell- 
ing of the parts. 

CROUP OF CHILDREN, 

is precisely the same thing, only occurring in the body 
of the windpipe instead of at the top, and as the wind- 
pipe is more roomy, and from its unyielding gristly 
nature, not inclined to swell, the more watery portions 
of the blood are differently disposed of: they harden and 
form a tough, leathery kind of substance like the exud- 
ing and hardening of gum on a tree, this thickens and 
thickens until the whole cavity is filled, is choked up, 
and the child dies from suffocation ; an operation similar 
to that of the filling up of the boilers of steam-boats, or 
the spout of the tea-kettle where limestone water is 
used. And as many a lovely child is destroyed in a 
single night, and many young mothers are wholly ig- 
norant of the dangerous nature of the ailment, it may be 
useful to state here what should be done ivhile the mes- 
senger has gone for a physician. 

SYMPTOMS OF CROUP. 

It almost always comes on at night, after the child has 
been some time in bed, and generally after having been 
out of doors of a damp, raw day. He is restless, and 
gives an unusual sounding cough, without its wakening 
him ; a cough so peculiar that a parent who has heard it 
once, will never fail to recognize it afterwards, a kind of 
ringing, husky, muffled cough, with something of a 
hoarse barking sound; it is from a Scotch word, which 
means a croaky or husky sound ; after a while the child 
coughs again, and is roused up, and after each cough the 
breath is drawn in with a hissing noise like a chicken 
v/ith the pip, the breathing becomes slower as the open- 



232 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

ing becomes smaller by the gradual filling up as before 
described, the face is flushed, the eyes red, tearful, blood 
shot, skin dry and hot, or face bathed in perspiration, 
the hand is frequently carried to the throat, as if dis- 
tress were felt there, great thirst, urine high colored, 
great uneasiness, restlessness between the fits of cough- 
ing; a mother who has ever heard it once, needs no 
description to enable her to recognize it again. The 
first born are most likely to perish with it ; simply be- 
cause the parent has no experience of its nature, and 
hence is not alarmed in time, or knows not what to do, 
while the physician is being sent for. In the hope of 
being instrumental in saving some little sufferer, whose 
life is inexpressibly dear, at least to one or two, I will 
make some suggestions, not for the cure of the patient, 
but to save time. The instant you perceive that the 
child has Croup, indicated by the barking Cough, uneasy 
breathing, restlessness, send for a physician, and as in- 
stantly wrap a hot flannel around each foot, to keep it 
warm; but while the flannels are being heated, dip 
another flannel, of two or more thicknesses, in spirits of 
turpentine, or spirits of hartshorn ; or have a large mus- 
tard plaster applied, one that will reach from the top of 
the throat down to some two inches below the collar 
bones, wide enough at top to reach half-way round the 
neck on either side, and nearly across the whole breast 
at bottom. But it will take time to send for a physi- 
cian, to prepare flannels, and to make the plaster or ob- 
tain the turpentined flannel, and in some cases fifteen 
minutes is an age — is death, if lost; therefore, while 
these things are preparing, give the child, if one year old 
or over (and half as much, if less), about half a teaspoon- 
ful of Hive Syrup, and double the dose every fifteen 



ATTEND TO FIRST SYMPTOMS. 238 

minutes until vomiting is produced; and every half hour 
after vomiting, give half as much as caused the vomiting, 
until the physician comes, or the child ceases to cough, 
when he breathes free, and is safe. If you have no Hive 
Syrup, give a teaspoon-ful of Syrup of Ipecac, and double 
the dose every fifteen minutes until vomiting is pro- 
duced. If you have nothing at all, boil some water, 
keep it boiling, dip woollen flannels of several folds into 
it, squeeze it out moderately with your hand, and apply 
it as hot as the child can possibly bear it to the throat, 
and in from one to three minutes, according to the violence 
of the symptoms, have another to put on, the instant the 
first is removed, and keep this up until the breathing is 
easy and the cough is loose and the phlegm is freely dis- 
charged, or until the arrival of the physician. 

The second form of Throat-Ail is called Chronic La- 
ryngitis, from its long continuance, this is the real 
Throat- Ail, which for some years past has been becoming 
increasingly common, and which from neglect, is so fre- 
quently ending in a general decline and death, usually 
running its course to a fatal termination in a year or 
two, or three. 

The nature, causes, and symptoms of this disease 
have been described in previous pages. The object now 
is, to attempt to induce persons to attend to the first 
symptoms, for the simple reason, that in perhaps a 
majority of cases, they are the symptoms of coming Con- 
sumption. Some physicians of great eminence, men of 
learning, and of patient, long continued research, have 
so generally seen the symptoms of throat-ail end in 
Consumption, as to have expressed their opinion, that 
the symptoms of chronic layringitis are the effect of Con- 
sumptive disease already present in the system; and I 



234 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

have reason to know, that it is in very — very many In- 
stances but too true. JfSP The tickling, which causes 
cough, seeming to be in the larynx, at the top of the 
windpipe, when in reality, it is in the depression, at the 
bottom of the windpipe, the irritation coming from the 
lungs close by, and not from the voice organs, which are 
from three to six inches above. 

A tickling in the throat of clergymen, in other words, 
throat-ail, in that class of persons, is not as commonly a 
symptom of Consumption in progress, or threatened, as 
in others, because the manner in which they use their 
voice, makes them liable to a local disease, confined to 
the voice making organs themselves ; but in a large class 
of other cases, there can be no doubt, that throat-ail 
symptoms are nothing more nor less than accompani- 
ments of Consumptive disease, to say the least of it ; 
leaving the question of the relations of cause and effect 
open. The amount of the whole matter is simply this, 

As a general rule, the fact of the existence of a throat 
affection for six or eight weeks, is presumptive evidence of 
a Consumptive constitution, public speakers excepted, 
and even many of them are in the same category. 

It is on this account that so many of these throat 
affections, unless taken in the beginning, are exceedingly 
intractable, requiring sometimes, months and months 
of tedious persevering effort to wholly eradicate the 
symptoms. 

For these two serious reasons am I at not less pains 
to designate the particular symptoms of Throat-Ail in 
the beginning, in the very first beginning, than those of 
Consumption. Nor do I think it possible to certainly 
designate between the two, without the aid of lung 
measurement ; if they measure full, if they meet all the 



A CASE IN POINT. 235 

requisitions, then is it certain that the Throat- Ail symp- 
toms are confined to the throat ; but if with Throat-Ail 
symptoms, there be a decided defective lung measure- 
ment, then, beside the Throat-Ail treatment, I habitually 
manage the case as if it were one of evident Consump- 
tion ; this I do, to be on the safe side, and I think I have 
saved human life by it. 

I will here give a single case, proving conclusively 
the two points just stated. 

First, The difficulty, or rather the length of time re- 
quired to eradicate a slight form of the disease. 

Second, Where it was certain that no consumptive 
ailment was present. 

A merchant of this city, aged 38, applied Oct. 30th, 
having 

Tiredness in the throat. 

Weakness of the voice. 

Hoarseness. 

Constant tendency to swallow. 

Burning feeling, at times, in the throat. 

Back part of the throat very much inflamed. 

Uncomfortable cough. 

Expectoration of unmixed yellow matter, readily 
brought up with a hern. 

His measurement reached the full standard, pulse 78, 
and weight 178, which was rather above what it was 
ordinarily. 

This was pronounced a clear case of uncomplicated 
Throat-Ail. 

On the 29th day of February following, just four 
months after, during which time he had most rigidly ob- 
served all the directions which had been given him, he 
had not the most remote remnant of any one symptom 



236 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

above named. While under rny care, I gave this gentle- 
man no internal medicine, except perhaps one, or may 
be, two pills in the beginning; nor did I see him a 
dozen times perhaps ; the directions were simple and 
safe, the main thing was, the 'persevering observance of 
them. On this point many persons fail of health and 
life. Because they do not get well in a week or two, 
they become tired, and want to try some thing or some- 
body else, or getting almost well, imagine that the 
danger is over, and that the rest will be accomplished 
of itself; in these ways relapses occur, the system is 
trifled with, time is lost, and the patient dies. I very 
greatly desire to excite no expectations which may not 
be realized, and therefore state to the reader very plainly, 
that unless this Throat- Ail, this Chronic Laryngitis is of 
a mild form, and of but a very few months standing, it 
is not probable that the symptoms can be removed, the 
disease eradicated and a habit of health restored, short 
of several months constant, thorough and persevering 
attention. I would be glad beyond expression to be 
able to propose a safe, a prompt and permanent cure, 
but I possess no such knowledge ; and from the number 
of persons applying to me from various parts of the 
country, who have vainly tried every conceivable re- 
medy, I feel convinced, that there is no instantaneous 
cure, no rail-road route to the thorough eradication of 
Chronic Laryngitis ; that nothing can accomplish it but 
a thorough, systematic effort, and generally long conti- 
nued. Usually but little internal medicine is required, 
unless there are complications, nor is frequent medical 
interference requisite, for in a comparatively short time^ 
sometimes by a single set of prescriptions, the system is 
placed in a condition, which requires nothing thereafter 



NITRATE OF SILVER. 237 

but a safe and simple treatment, but safe and simple as 
it is, it must be persevered in, often for months together. 
I trust that these sentiments will be thoroughly im- 
pressed upon the mind of the reader, and that he will 
make a wise and practical use of them. 

Illustrations have already been given on page 11, 
showing how certainly apparently slight symptoms of 
Throat- Ail end in death when neglected ; on the other 
hand, it is seen in the case last given, and in others scat- 
tered through the book, with what regularity thorough 
cures take place, when the symptoms are attacked in the 
beginning, and persevering attention is given to them 
until every symptom of disease is not only eradicated, 
but even a little longer, so as not merely to get into 
health, but to establish a habit of health. To do this 
does not involve the taking of medicine, nor costly, nor 
painful observances, but it does involve the rational 
continued and systematic observance of safe and effec- 
tive practices. And when it is known that the conti- 
nued presence of Throat- Ail symptoms for months in 
succession, is presumptive evidence of a consumptive 
condition of the system, the reader is placed fully 
on his guard, health and life being the forfeit of inat- 
tention. 

NITRATE OF SILVER 

applied to the throat itself is now a common remedy, 
and has been favorably spoken of. From the year 1846, 
its employment has rapidly extended, until there is 
scarcely a town in the United States where it has not 
been tried. In many cases it affords immediate and 
grateful relief. I have never known a case where that 
relief was effectual and permanent. Persons have come 



238 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

to me, who have had it applied by the most skilful and 
experienced hands for days and weeks, and months 
without a cure. In some cases the ailment has been 
aggravated. 

It is not my business to decry any remedy, provided 
it is a remedy ; but when it is sometimes an alleviant 
only, at others inert, occasionally an aggravant, and in 
no one known case effectual when alone used, it is per- 
haps a common due, to draw attention to the facts of 
the case. 

I have employed it in my own practice some years 
ago, and with results so unsatisfactory, that I have laid 
it aside, and only use it in rare instances. 

It has most notoriously disappointed the expectation 
of physicians all over the United States. 

It is an old practice revived ; not that there is no 
merit in what has become obsolete ; but from the cir- 
cumstance that it was wholly lost sight of for a decade 
or more, it is reasonable to suppose that such a disuse 
arose from the fact of its general inefficiency. Trousseau 
and Belloc made a publication on the subject in Paris, 
May I5th, 1837; a translation appeared in Cincinnati, 
in September, 1839, by Dr. J. A. Warder ; and yet, so 
completely had the practice passed from the medical 
public, that when it was revived in 1846, it was re- 
garded as a new discovery throughout the Union. Trous- 
seau is still living, and although he maintains a high re- 
putation, and has written much since he first proposed 
the topical application of nitrate of silver as a cure for 
several forms of throat disease in 1837, I am not aware 
that these sentiments were reiterated, or that the ori- 
ginal, or the translation, ever passed to a second edition. 
It is scarcely possible, therefore, if the topical application 



NITRATE OF SILVER. 239 

of the nitrate of silver had been really a permanently 
efficient remedy, that it should have so soon fallen into 
desuetude. 

If the throat symptoms arise from the condition of 
the stomach, the application of the caustic to the throat 
cannot cure, since it does not remove the cause. If the 
symptoms originate from the condition of the lungs, 
there can be no cure, since the nitrate cannot reach 
them. 

If the throat feelings depend upon spinal derangement, 
as is not uncommon, an interesting case of which is now 
in my hands, no washes to the throat can avail. 

In these three kinds of cases, where the throat symp- 
toms, the tickling cough, more or less dry, arises from 
the condition of the stomach, the lungs, the spine ; the 
application of the nitrate of silver not only does no good, 
but harm ; it merely smothers the complainings of na- 
ture; it deadens the sensibility of the throat, and thus 
muffles watchful Nature's voice, without removing the 
thing which caused her to cry out ; stifling her com- 
plaints, while the cause of them remains in action. It is 
precisely like closing the hatches when the hold is on 
fire, and there resting ! It is only covering with white 
wash the black spot on the wall ; it is gone to all ap- 
pearance, but that black spot is there still. The fire is 
in the hold, and sooner or later will break forth with the 
more fury, and leave the noble vessel a ruin. 

I do not doubt that while using the nitrate of silver, 
the throat symptoms do sometimes disappear; I do not 
doubt that it sometimes, in the hands of a judicious phy- 
sician, may have a serviceable effect as a second or third 
rate aid; but that the nitrate of silver applied in solu- 
tion to the throat, has of itself, ever permanently cured 



240 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

one single case of serious chronic laryngitis, I do not 
believe. If other means were used in conjunction, then 
is the nitrate not the remedy. 

A CLERGYMAN 

having abandoned preaching from hoarseness and a feel- 
ing of rawness of the throat after speaking one year be- 
fore, had the nitrate of silver applied as well as it is pos- 
sible for a physician to apply it, he gave up public 
speaking altogether, and yet with this entire abandon- 
ment of his calling, and the use of the nitrate, he was 
not restored, and came to me for advice, complaining 
most of a weakness of voice which disabled him from 
reading aloud for five minutes at a time. In one month 
he could read thirty minutes at a time with ease, and in 
all respects felt well, with a clear, strong voice, system 
regular. I advised him to resume his duties, as I 
thought he could do so not only without harm, but with 
decided advantage. See his condition on the day he 
first came, and on his return one month after : 

Age. Date. Pulse. Breathing. Weight. L. measure. 

24 Feb. 2 100 20 110 200 
Mar. 4 72 16 114 220 

SPINAL DISEASE. 

A young lady had been suffering two years with op- 
pression, cough, distressing irritation in the throat, 
shortness of breath, pains in the breast, suffering be- 
tween the shoulder blades. She had undergone a variety 
of treatment, had taken cod liver oil, and had used the 
nitrate of silver to the throat to remove the trouble- 
some irritation and tickling ; every few minutes, some- 
times every minute there was a short hack, with every 



COD-LIVER OIL. 241 

now and then a hoarse, deep, distressing hollow cough 
which jarred and pained the whole frame, pulse 130 
a minute, and breathing thirty-six and over. Every 
thing done for her had not availed. On examining this 
deeply interesting case, it was found all the throat and 
lung symptoms arose from the condition of the spine, 
and the case was treated accordingly, and without re- 
garding the throat affection ; but directing attention to 
the spinal symptoms, the hacking cough was removed, 
the pulse fell a third, and the breathing likewise, and 
every symptom connected with the throat or lungs had 
a steady and encouraging abatement, promising now, an 
ultimate restoration. 

These cases are given as a warning to guard against 
loss of time in using the nitrate of silver to the throat, 
unless it is as certain as such a thing can be, that the 
ailment is confined to the upper part of the windpipe, 
fT^lp* in which case other things may be more successfully 
used, avoiding the discomfort of the nitrate applications, 
and the irreparable injury the teeth are liable to suffer, 
their certain and permanent discoloration, if the nitrate 
of silver forms any part of the gargle employed. The 
means referred to are the gargles, fomentations and con- 
stitutional remedies already known to educated physi- 
cians, as it is no part of the design of this book to aid 
the reader in ruining his constitution, his health, and his 
life, by teaching him to practice on himself. 

COD LIVER OIL 

has been given freely for affections of the throat as well 

as those of the lungs. I believe it to be the best known 

remedy for general scrofula of the system. It often 

11 



242 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

gives flesh and strength to consumptive persons who 
take it ; but, 

It has no direct effect upon the lungs in any way. 

It sometimes causes spitting of blood. 

It sometimes, nay, often, causes looseness of bowels. 

It often deranges the stomach. 

It is impossible for numbers to take it. 

It is, when applicable, adapted to two classes of per- 
sons mainly, if not exclusively ; first, to the young ; 
second, to those who, when in health, were inclined to be 
fleshy or fat. 

For these reasons it is not a reliable remedy, not 
generally applicable, and should not be taken except 
under the supervision of an experienced physician ; and 
by itself should never be relied on, for I have never seen 
a case of Consumption cured by it, and have never read 
of a case that was cured by the use of it alone. I 
know that cases have been reported in the public prints, 
and in medical journals, where persons taking it have ap- 
peared to do well. But to the best of my recollection 
one, if not both of the circumstances which I shall name, 
has attended its administration in every reported case. 

First, some one or more symptoms always remained; 
or, second, there is a failure to report the condition of 
the case a year or two or three after. 

I would not oppose its use in Consumptive disease, 
for it does, in quite a number of instances, impart flesh 
and strength to the patient, and thus far, it is well ; and 
better still if these improvements are taken advantage of 
to employ them in proper out-door exercise, thus will it 
be a valuable aid, but if it fails 

To increase the flesh, 

To increase the strength, 



TO CLERGYMEN AND THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS. 243 

Or, if on the other hand it tends 

To cause spitting of blood, 

To loosen the bowels, 

To derange the stomach, 

Then, by all means, should it be abandoned, because 
these occurrences are fatal in their tendencies, always 
weakening the general system. 

TO CLERGYMEN AND THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS; 

Ministers and mothers are our country's hope. As is 
the mother, so is the man. But in this happy land, 
where every one can worship as he chooses, the min- 
ister moulds the mother, and from his teachings do her 
principles take their coloring. Making it true "as is 
the priest, so are the people." Every good citizen will, 
therefore, naturally desire, that there should be a suffi- 
cient number of ministers of religion, to meet the wants 
of our growing country. It is however but too true, 
that the number of ministers for the last few years of 
all denominations, has relatively decreased, there are 
fewer clergymen in proportion to the population, than 
there were twenty years ago. One cause of this is, 
their early death, or their premature disabling, from 
loss of health. 

Every year that a faithful clergyman lives, that life 
becomes more valuable to the church, in consequence of 
his increased experience, prudence, forbearance and 
kindly feeling to his fellow race. The less he moves by 
terror, the more by love ; the more valuable he is to the 
church to which he has dedicated himself and all he has, 
the greater is his obligation to take care of, and watch 
over that health, without which, his life is comparatively 
useless. 



244 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

A man who lives as he ought to, should be In his 
very prime at fifty years of age. But how many of our 
clergymen, some of the brightest among them, have 
passed away, long before that time. How many others 
incapacitated from efficient labor before they reach the 
age of fifty years ! And how many too, in the vigor of 
manhood's physical power, and mental energy, have 
fainted under the burden and heat of the day ! 

To the little army of theological students, does the 
church look for recruits, to supply the places of the dis- 
abled and the dead. But in very many instances, these 
reasonable expectations have been disappointed ; and in 
every direction are found young men, who have just left 
the seminary, wandering down to other occupations, 
from want of health, to become teachers in schools, in 
academies, in private families, to take agencies for 
books or religious newspapers, to assume the editorial 
pen, or having "married well" in the phrase of the times, 
settle quietly and conscientiously down, as invalids for 
life! 

To old fathers and mothers at home, whose whole 
lives are bound up in the advancement of religion, it is 
the sweetest and purest of all earthly pleasures, to look 
forward to the day, when their son, now at the seminary, 
shall have completed his studies, shall return to his 
native village, and among the neighbors and friends of 
his youth, shall stand up " a man of God," to deliver 
messages of high import to men. To maintain him 
at the seminary, how cheerfully do they labor by day 
on the farm, and by night at the needle or the wheel. 
With what willing frugality do they practice a thou- 
sand self-denials; and the brothers and loving sisters, 
how gladly do they lend a hand, to help him so far 



TO CLERGYMEN AND THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS. 245 

away, and whom they already begin to regard as higher 
than they, mingling reverence .with affection. In a 
thousand other cases, with what a sacred ambition does 
the childless widow in her age and poverty, strive to 
lay aside a penny now and then by extra labor or extra 
deprivation ; but not alone, there are the maiden 
workers in the hard-lifed city, in the cheerless garret, 
in the damp basement, in the dingy rooms at the top 
of crazy stairways, or at the ends of dark passages; 
the poor mechanic, how do all these labor to save by the 
penny, that a little sum may be raised for an Education 
Society, to help such young men at the seminary to 
books and clothing, and board, as have no means of 
their own, so that they may the sooner enter upon 
their labors ; we cannot otherwise than imagine that 
many a solitary hour is cheered by the reflection that 
they are thus doing something towards bettering the 
common cause of great humanity ; and that for these 
little efforts, there is the sweet recompense of hope, that 
some one will be made better and happier for time and 
for aye. But when the student, for whose aid they 
have been struggling in these ways for long years, has 
almost completed his course, and the reward is just 
about to crown their willing efforts, what a blasting 
must there be of hope deferred, to know at such a time, 
that the health is gone ; and the savings and denials, and 
labors of years irrecoverably lost, as far as all direct 
practical effect on society is concerned ! 

Men and mothers of the church cannot but feel the 
truth of the statements made, and must regard with hioh 
interest, any proposition which looks to the abatement 
of a common calamity. The plan I propose is, that 
clergymen and theological students should consider it a 



246 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

sacred duty to be well. Certainly, the maintenance of 
health is a duty to all, but more sacredly so is it the 
duty of the two classes just named, and for the reasons 
stated. Health, a good constitution, is as much a 
" talent" entrusted to our care as any thing else. J know 
of no talent half so valuable ; for without health — family, 
friends, wealth, the world and every thing in it and 
about it, is a comparative blank, and the invalid is a 
blank, and more than a blank, because he is not only of 
no account himself, but by compelling the care of others, 
hinders them that much. He is not only troubled him- 
self, but is a source of wasting solicitude to those who 
love him. Men are not naturally sick. Except in 
hereditary cases, they bring disease upon themselves. 
And even when diseased, these bodies of ours are made 
with such wonderful wisdom and kindness, that they 
have within them as a part of their being, a principle, 
recognized for centuries among medical men as the 
" vis medicatrix naturae," the power of nature of curing 
herself if simply let alone, if her instinct dictates are 
wisely regarded. A man in ill health is very much like 
one who has failed in business. I never knew a person to 
attribute his failure to himself. It is always done by 
having endorsed the paper of others. Invalids are too 
prone to attribute their want of health to causes out of 
themselves. But it is a deception. There is perhaps 
not one case of disease in a hundred, in the ordinary 
walks of life, which does not owe its origin directly to 
the unwise conduct of the person himself. And one of 
the most valuable secrets of health is simple and emi- 
nently practical £2^ when a man becomes unwell let 
him rigidly, and at once, investigate the cause, and with 
conscientious care, ever after, make it his study to avoid 



TO CLERGYMEN AND THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS. 247 

that cause. This is certainly not an unreasonable course, 
and if it be not wickedness to neglect it, then I do not 
know what sin against the Creator of our being is. And 
surely a stronger appeal than its sinfulness, cannot be 
made to the minister that is, or is to be. What I am 
most anxious to impress on the mind is " study to take 

CARE OF YOUR HEALTH WHILE YOU ARE WELL." If not 

well, instead of tampering with your constitution, seek 
advice promptly from your physician, and follow it, and 
do not by your example, teach your physician to be his 
own minister. 

Let then the minister now, or to be, study well the 
symptoms of that disease which has disabled so many 
eminent and useful men, and be prompt to check them 
in the budding. I will name here two causes, which 
perhaps, more than any others, lay the foundation for 
the ultimate abandonment of ministerial duties. 

First, Exposure to a colder air, too soon after speaking 
or singing. 

Second, Speaking or singing, when it requires an 
effort, or gives pain to do so, as in hoarseness from a cold. 

If every air cell of the lungs were spread out on a 
wall, a space would be covered several times larger than 
the surface of the body — thirty times larger. 

If the hand is dipped in cold water and suddenly 
placed on any part of the body which is usually covered, 
a most unpleasant shock is imparted to the whole 
system. 

If then, when the lungs have been preternaturally 
heated by speaking in a warm room, the person imme- 
diately goes out into a colder air, a dash of that cold 
air is made, not over a few square inches, but over a 
surface of many square feet ; not over the comparatively 



248 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

hardened skin, but over the delicate fibres of the internal 
throat and lungs. It is true, that the lungs do not make 
such a loud complaint, although the actual violence is 
very many times greater ; still, it is a violence, and not 
the less injurious because it at first complains but little, 
for it is a law of the internal organs, that they suffer dis- 
organization to a wonderful extent without complaining, 
almost to within a few hours of death. 

AN ILLUSTRATION. 

The case is published in the New Orleans Medical and 
Surgical Journal for September, 1850, and was' reported 
by Dr. J. C. Nott, of Mobile, to whom Dr. G. P. 
Gaines, who attended the patient without ever having 
seen him before, furnished the following notes : 

" Monday, May 27th, 1850, between 7 and 8 in the 
evening, I was called to see a gentleman aged fifty-six, 
who was staying with a friend, three miles from Mobile, 
where he had spent the previous two months under cir- 
cumstances of high mental excitement, in the discharge 
of the offices of his profession. Found him in great 
pain, which he referred to the lower portion of the 
breast. Suspecting immediately an affection of the 
heart, I questioned him if he had ever had any pain in 
his heart before ; he answered that he had had, on seve- 
ral previous occasions, some slight pain in his left side, 
with slight palpitation, but not of much moment. 
Auscultation detected no abnormal sounds, no palpita- 
tion, but the heart beat regular and slow. He belched 
up great quantities of wind, but there was no distention 
of the epigastrium, or tenderness. He vomited occa- 
sionally undigested food, but said he had no nausea. 
He was perfectly cold all over, and bathed in a cold 



INSIDIOUS DISEASE ILLUSTRATED. 249 

sweat. I administered anodynes and carminatives, ap- 
plied a warm poultice with mustard to the seat of pain, 
endeavored to bring about reaction by warmth to the 
extremities, but nothing gave relief. He still com- 
plained of the pain, and would beat his breast with his 
clenched hands. At ten o'clock I gave him a large dose 
of calomel and morphine, also gave several enemas, 
under which, in the course of two hours, he seemed to 
react and get warm, and he remarked, ' Doctor, I feel 
better everywhere else, but that pain still remains ; it is 
a persistent and abiding pain, that seems to press through 
me against my spine.' All this time his pulse was regu- 
lar, full, strong, but rather slow. His strength was 
good, for he got out of bed several times without help. 
At one o'clock I repeated the calomel and morphine. 
At two o'clock he said ' the pain has left my breast, and 
gone to my heart and left arm ; do you think that is a 
good sign V I asked him if in changing it still retained 
its severity, and he answered me ' yes.' I applied my 
hand over the heart, but there was no palpitation. He 
also said, 'Doctor, I think I am getting weaker — feel my 
pulse.' I felt it, and although it beat regularly, it seemed 
slower and weaker. I left the room for about fifteen 
minutes, and was suddenly called in to see him die. He 
breathed two or three times after I reached his bed- 
side." 

His body was opened after death. His lungs were 
perfectly sound throughout, and were free from any signs 
of disease, acute or chronic. In the left ventricle of the 
heart " there was an irregular bruised looking patch, 
about the size of a dollar, and on the outer edge of this 
was the fatal rupture !" The patient had died literally 
of a broken heart. This bruised looking patch presented 
11* 



250 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

a dark, bloody appearance, the fibrous, muscular por- 
tion being destroyed. The patient had been laboring 
under a slight diarrhoea for several days, but his friends 
believed him to be in vigorous health ; and says Dr. 
Nott, "It is remarkable that so much disease should 
have existed, with so few symptoms to indicate it, 
though similar examples are on record. There can be 
no doubt that organic disease had existed for months, 
leading inevitably to death.'''' 

This case is given with the express purpose of im- 
pressing upon the reader's mind, that the internal organs 
of the body are actually disorganized, destroyed some- 
times, without giving any indication of it, until within a 
few hours of death. And that because the throat 
does not complain of such sudden changes as I have 
spoken of, it nevertheless does suffer from each repeated 
violence, until destroyed irreparably, ftfifP And so is 
it with the lungs, very many persons die of Consump- 
tion, and after death a large portion of their lungs are 
found on examination to have decayed away without 
the patient ever having complained of pain in the breast 
until within a week or ten days of death, though the 
distressing cough and emaciation gave sufficient evidence 
of the nature of the disease. 

Before remarking on the second cause of frequent loss 
of voice in clergymen, I will step so far out of my way 
as to mention a few more items in reference to the death 
above described, the patient having been the most cele- 
brated clerical orator of the present century, at least in 
the denomination to which he belonged for the greater 
portion of his life, John Newland Maffitt. 

He had been preaching in Mobile for some weeks ; 
" immense crowds were attracted day after day by his 



DEATH OF MR. MAFFIT. 251 

extraordinary pulpit eloquence. When at the zenith of 
his success evil reports pursued him. He became very 
much excited, was much occupied in writing for several 
days and nights ; in writing was suddenly taken ill on 
the evening of the 27th of June, 1850, and died in seven 
hours. What influence his protracted mental excitement 
exercised in causing the disease, must remain in doubt 5 
and though the malady is one which marches steadily 
onward, it is highly probable that its termination was 
hastened by moral causes." It is thus seen that he died 
of disease of the heart, which must have been in pro- 
gress for many weeks, and that it is impossible for him 
to have died of any other cause. Peace to his j nemory ! 

SECOND CAUSE OF LOSS OF VOICE, 

Speaking or singing, when it requires an effort, or gives 
discomfort or pain to do so. 

A clergyman has a cold, he is hoarse, he feels com- 
pelled to fulfil an engagement, and begins to speak with 
labor ; as he proceeds or ivarms up he speaks more easily, 
and at length one would not suppose that anything 
was the matter with him ; but when it is over, he in a 
short time begins to suffer, sometimes actual pain, at 
others utter prostration of the whole man, a heavy tired- 
ness in the throat, or raw burning feeling; this lasts 
from a few hours to some days, and before he is fully 
well, inexorable appointments tempt him to a repetition, 
until all recuperative energy of the parts is lost, and the 
voice is gone for life, which, with a few days rest and 
care, might have been raised on the side of gocd morals 
and virtue, and religion, for a quarter of a century. 
The reasons which have been given in my office for such 
a course are : " I was compelled to ;" " I could not help 



252 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

it ;" " The appointment was out, and it was too late to 
recall it ;" " The people would have been disappointed." 
The question which presents itself to my mind on such 
occasions is simply this — " Can it ever be necessary to 
sacrifice the health, to ruin the constitution, and to risk 
life, in order to advance the interests of religion in such 
cases?" Do her true interests require it? Is it true 
economy ? 

It may be useful to give some rules to be observed 
on the part of public speakers. 

1. Speak in a conversational tone, with very much the 
same pause and emphasis as judges employ from the 
bench. This cannot interfere with earnestness or im- 
pressiveness of address, but really adds to both. 

2. Never begin to speak on a high key ; commence in 
a low tone and gradually rise, feeling your way to the 
most distant hearer. 

3. Do not continue utterance until the lungs are 
almost entirely emptied of air, but take breath when 
they are about two-thirds exhausted. 

4. Do not speak with greater rapidity than will pre- 
vent your giving a complete and perfect enunciation to 
each syllable ; endeavor if possible to sound every letter 
in every word ; this will compensate to a wonderful ex- 
tent for loudness and vehemence of tone and ges- 
ture, and consequently husbands the physical strength 
both of the body in general, and the voice organs in 
particular. Rapidity of enunciation depends to some 
extent on temperament and other circumstances. Frank- 
lin says that Whitfield articulated his words so per- 
fectly, that he could distinctly hear him at the distance 
of several squares, viz : Whitfield spoke from the top 
of the steps at the door of the court-house in Market 



RULES FOR PUBLIC SPEAKERS. 253 

street, Philadelphia, west of Second-street, " and his 
voice was distinct until I came near Front-street, when 
some noise in the street obscured it, and I concluded he 
could well be heard by thirty thousand people." 

It is said of the oratory of Jonathan Edwards, that 
" ere he reached the climax of his terrible appeals, the 
whole audience had risen up in one tumult of grief and 
consternation. And amid all this, there stood the calm, 
imperturbable man, reading on as softly and gently as if 
he were in his own study." 

5. Unless the effort to speak is painful, or tiresome to 
the whole body, it is best, when there is merely weak- 
ness in the vocal organs, to use the voice at three or 
four regular times a day, by reading, conversation or 
declamation, to the extent of not making an effort ; the 
moment you become sensible of an effort in speaking, 
cease, instantaneously cease; at each exercise of the 
voice, stop before you are tired ; but gradually increase 
the time. Do not speak at one hour, or day, much 
louder or longer than you did the hour or the day pre- 
ceding ; in this way you will gradually invite the natural 
strength to the voice muscles, just as the muscles of the 
other parts of the body, when weakened by disease, regain 
their natural power by moderate and gradually increasing 
exercise. It is generally irregular speaking which is 
so injurious to public men — making no effort for a day, 
or week, or month, and then all at once delivering a 
speech, or sermon, or oration. By observing these prin- 
ciples, a man by speaking every day, may every day 
get better until he is perfectly restored ; the opposite 
course, or even simple neglect of a slight chronic throat 
ailment will almost inevitably terminate fatally. 

6. After delivering an address, do not go immediately 



254 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

into a colder atmosphere; remain after the assembly has 
dispersed for five, ten, twenty minutes, or more, accord- 
ing to the difference between the internal and external 
temperature of the air. And even after having waited 
some time to allow the system to become cooled, close 
your mouth resolutely, then hold over it and the nose a 
handkerchief, and then leave the house, walking briskly 
for five or ten minutes, or until the blood has begun to 
circulate freely, then remove the handkerchief, but still 
keep the mouth closed until you have entered your 
dwelling. If practicable never ride, but always walk 
from the place of your public exercise, as walking tends 
more to prevent chilliness. These suggestions are appli- 
cable to night air all the year round, but only to cool 
weather in the day time. Their observance should be 
rigid in proportion as the weather is cold. Never retire 
to bed or undress within an hour of speaking or singing. 

The reader will perceive that all the above sugges- 
tions under the sixth head are in reference to one prin- 
ciple, the avoidance of cooling off quickly after exercises. 

There are many other points in reference to the gene- 
ral subject of equal importance to clergymen, but it is 
not practicable to present them here. 



FOR CLERGYMEN. 



All that I have said is to induce clergymen and others 
to take warning from the first slight symptoms of dis- 
ease. To accomplish this, I will, in addition to those 
already given, present two cases ; one showing how 
insidiously the symptoms grow, and how easily they 



FIRST THROAT-AIL SYMPTOMS. 255 

may be removed when promptly attended to ; the other 
being an example of their certainly fatal tendency when 
long neglected. 

FIRST THROAT-AIL SYMPTOMS, 

As described by a clergyman, in February, 1852, (1105.) 
" Eighteen months ago I noticed the first very slight symp- 
toms of interference with my voice, in the collection of 
phlegm,_ obliging me occasionally to clear my throat. 
But I felt no uneasiness about the matter at that time, 
and never examined to see if there were any inflamma- 
tion. Six months later, which was about a year ago, I 
began to feel, during my afternoon sermon, some irrita- 
tion in the throat, extending down to about the top of 
the breast bone, with something like a raw sensation, 
which, however, would pass away during the evening. 

" In the course of the summer and fall my voice became 
more affected, although still not very decidedly, but as 
if I had a slight cold, and there was a deficiency in clear- 
ness when I attempted to sing. 

" I now scarcely ever have any sensation of soreness so 
low down ' as the top of the breast bone, but there is 
usually some feeling of that kind in the region of ' the 
apple.' There is a decided redness of the parts about 
the palate and of the back wall of the throat, with a 
decided roughness, especially of the latter, and an elon- 
gation of the uvula. There is a constant collection of 
phlegm, generally of a light color ; of no great consis- 
tency, but sometimes having a nucleus of more sub- 
stance. The tendency to clear the throat by hemming 
or swallowing is quite decided and frequent, but not 
painful nor very troublesome. There is no soreness in 
swallowing, nor any difficulty in ordinary speaking. I 



256 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

can go through one preaching service without incon- 
venience, excepting a slight hoarseness towards the close, 
which remains through the rest of the day, but is not 
felt the following morning. So long as I practiced the 
indulgence of a second service on the Sabbath, which 
was until about six weeks ago, I found that the effects 
of that second service were a decided increase of the 
hoarseness, and some soreness felt in speaking towards 
the last. 

" I have only occasionally been troubled with a dry 
tickling in the region of the voice organs, and it has 
then been only of a few moments' continuance. There 
is a redness in the tonsils and in the parts a little an- 
terior as well as behind them. The uvula does not oc- 
casion cough or tickling, or other uneasiness, except a 
very slight sensation when the parts are at rest, as if 
something were resting there. 

I have a decided tendency to costiveness, and usually 
there is something of a bad taste in the mouth on rising, 
and sometimes to a considerable degree. Seldom any 
unpleasant feeling at the pit of the stomach." 

Within two months this gentleman was able to con- 
duct a service of an hour and a half without any felt in- 
convenience, and I considered him able to preach daily 
to advantage. 

THROAT-AIL NEGLECTED. 

" C. C. C, aged 40 years, married at eighteen, five chil- 
dren, delicate constitution naturally, but never had any 
seated disease - until two and a half years ago, when 1 
was first slightly troubled with a sore throat, this conti- 
nued month after month; a slight cough came on; after 
several months I found that when I had been silent for 
sometime, I could not speak without moistening my 



ASTHMA. 257 

throat with a little water. Shortly after I raised a small 
quantity of blood, and generally had a severe coughing 
spell night and morning, but never at all through the 
night, and very little through the day. These symptoms 
continued the same until ten months ago, when I had in 
May another attack of spitting blood, which has since 
become more frequent, until at present I expectorate 
blood mixed with heavy yellow matter. Now my 
cough troubles me through the night. The phlegm 
raises very easily, almost without an effort, it is dark 
and greenish, gummy and heavy. My bowels for 
several months are much relaxed, and there is a feeling 
of weakness about them. Have had night sweats at 
times for six months, and have them now towards 
morning. I have pain and weakness in my limbs ; a 
little fever sometimes. Have been quite irregular for a 
year, with a great deal of pain in both breasts and sides, 
changing often, except that in the centre of my breast 
from the throat down, where appears to be the seat of 
my disease, and often when I cough, the soreness flies 
from that point to both breasts. My stomach is weak ; 
the food sometimes sours, and is thrown up." 

Such is the description of the commencement, pro- 
gress, and termination of a slight affection of the throat. 
Slight indeed at first, but terminating in two years in 
the decaying stages of consumptive disease. 

ASTHMA. 

Its great distinguishing symptom is a difficulty of 
breathing, coming on at various intervals of days, weeks, 
months, years. The air is in the lungs but can't get 
out, swelling, distending, and causing an intolerable 
feeling of oppression of suffocation. The sensation arising 



258 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

from not getting fresh air into the lungs and that which 
is caused by not getting it out is the same. It is a 
smothering. A sense of suffocation ; of impending death. 
Of this, "Whitfield died. 

A fit of asthma usually comes on about midnight, 
from eleven to two o'clock. The patient is aroused from 
sleep with difficult breathing, aiM a most distressing 
feeling of tightness across the breast which impels him 
to sit upright in bed, the head leaned forward, the arms 
stretched out, the shoulders raised, the mouth open, the 
eyes protruding, the breathing heavy, loud labored and 
wheezing, the feet and hands cold, and of a deadly damp- 
ness. The patient speaks by signs or in monosyllables. 
He feels as if he could not spare the time to utter the 
shortest word. He has not breath to do it. The at- 
tempt to do so in a severe attack, would in reality al- 
most kill him. A very strong lunged man may count a 
hundred above his breath, but it wearies an asthmatic 
more to speak a single word. Showing that at the time 
he is living upon a hundredth part of air less than a per- 
son in health, of course relief or death must take place 
in a very few hours. 

While an attack is present, a most distressing cough 
comes on, dry and harassing at first beyond description; 
but it cannot be controlled, although it is worse than 
having to talk, and with a desperate energy all the 
strength of the system is summoned to the effort, but 
when once begun, there is no stopping it, and at last 
with the most inconceivable and utter prostration the 
patient falls down in hopeless helplessness, scarcely 
knowing whether death or life is to be the issue of the 
next moment. When death does not take place, the 
symptoms begin to abate about two o'clock in the morn- 



ASTHMA. 259 

ing, by free urination and by the phlegm which caused 
the cough and which prevented the pent up air from pass- 
ing out, loosening a little, then more and more until 
large mouthfuls are expectorated at a time, and by early 
day light the patient is sound asleep. At length he 
wakes up, spends the day in comparative comfort with 
the prospect, however, of a similar night, but not so 
violent, the attacks become more and more moderate 
until the patient regains his usual health, and in a few 
days after, one would not suppose any thing had ever 
been the matter with him. And thus he remains until 
a fresh cold, a torpid liver, constipated bowels, or over 
feeding calls him to a new reckoning, and the bill, 
the penalty, like a bank notice, " must be paid." 

I consider asthma as an incurable disease. That is, 
incurable by artificial means. Children who have it 
sometimes grow out of it. It sometimes wholly disap- 
pears during the marriage state. At the " turn of life " 
in women it occasionally leaves the system, not to 
return. 

When I say that asthmatic disease is incurable, I mean 
only that the system will be always liable to an attack. 
A fit of asthma cures itself generally. Like a common 
cold, it runs its course just as measles or small-pox, if 
nothing is done until it is fully established. But if 
attacked in the very beginning of its onset, asthma, like 
a common cold, can be cut short off. Persons subject to 
asthma have generally some feeling a day or more 
beforehand, which warns them of its approach, and if 
proper means are at once employed, the attack is almost, 
if not entirely forestalled. But when the person delays, 
in the hope that it may not come on, that it may pass 
off of itself, as it sometimes does, but not generally, 



260 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

then they have to suffer, and sometimes die for their 
inattention. 

All persons are liable to take colds as long as they 
live ; that liability may be very greatly diminished, but 
never can be wholly got rid of. In the same manner an 
asthmatic person will be always liable to an attack of 
asthma, but, as in the case of a common cold, propei 
care and attention, and habits of life, will indefinitely 
postpone both. In this sense only is asthma curable — it 
may be indefinitely postponed. By regulating the gen- 
eral system, by using means to make it less susceptible 
to taking cold, by suitable attentions to the skin, the 
feet, the condition of the stomach, liver and bowels, a 
person who is liable to an attack every few weeks may 
not have one in five years. This I have succeeded in 
doing wherever a patient is found willing to use sys- 
tematic efforts for the accomplishment of the object. 

There is one form, which may be called Chronic 
Asthma, not amenable to remedial means. It is a kind 
of perpetual asthma, seldom very violent, never wholly 
absent. The person always feels stopped up or bloated. 
Such patients are generally of full habit. They are 
always taking cold or getting bilious; constipation, 
snuffling of the nose, discharges of " thickish stuff" from 
the nose and lungs ; tongue furred, dry, whitish, or of a 
red or yellow tinge; no appetite, even a loathing of 
food. In the intervals of a cold or biliousness these 
symptoms are not present, except in part and to a slight 
extent; but all the time there is a distressing breath- 
lessness. Going up a few steps, walking a little fast, 
causes them to pant for breath ; and often in walking 
along the street at a moderate gait, they are compelled 
to stop to get breath. Looking so well all this time, 



DYSPEPTIC SYMPTOMS. 261 

and not being willing to be considered invalids, they 
employ themselves in looking around while thus pant- 
ing to get breath, as if they were expecting some per- 
sons, or were examining an object at a distance. 

This is a most distressing affection, because it is 
always present in a greater or less degree, and is aggra- 
vated by so many slight causes. Much may be done to 
mitigate this form of asthma, and make it bearable, but 
it lasts with life. 

It may be of some satisfaction to the asthmatic to 
know that it does not destroy life soon, except now and 
then. Usually asthmatic persons live to the age of fifty 
and sixty years or more, with good health between the 
attacks. It is generally an inherited disease, not always. 
Asthmatic people do not die of consumption, at least I 
have never known a well authenticated case of the kind. 
Consumptive persons usually recover when asthma 
supervenes, provided there is no serious disease in other 
important parts of the system. I consider asthma cura- 
tive of consumption. In consumption the air cannot 
get into the lungs, in asthma it cannot get out in quan- 
tities sufficient to answer the purposes of health and life. 

A NEW CLASS OF CASES. 

Applications are made to me by persons who have 
one or all of the following three complaints : 

1 . Some slight affection in the throat ; 

2. Cough more or less troublesome ; 

3. Pains of various kinds and degrees about the 
chest. 

But in connection with one or more of these ailments, 
which indeed are slight of their kind, there are symptoms 
of another character more or less annoying, far more dis- 



262 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tressing than the three first named. I will name and 
number the more prominent of these symptoms, not 
meaning that any one person has them all at one time ; 
but the most of them are present in the course and pro- 
gress of the disease, with varied degrees of aggravation. 

1. Feet uncomfortably, painfully cold. 

2. Pit of stomach has a raw, burning, sore or heavy 
feeling. 

3. Spirits more or less depressed all the time. 

4. Frequent feeling of chilliness. 

5. A sensation of discouragement. 

6. Oppressed with forebodings of the future. 

7. Difficulty of mental concentration. 

8. Pain or weakness in small of back. 

9. Swelling or tight feeling over the stomach. 

10. Great thirst, causing fullness or oppression if satis- 
fied. 

11. Food sours in the stomach. 

12. Pure water causes sourness sometimes. 

13. Food is sometimes retched up or spit up. 

14. Distressing gnawing or sinking at stomach. 

15. Frequent sensation of sinking or faintness. 

16. Alternate flushing and chilliness. 

17. Disposed to sweat on falling asleep. 

18. Wandering, shifting pains all over the body. 

19. Burning spots on top of head, shoulders, back and 
elsewhere. 

20. Sleep restless, unsound, unrefreshing. 

21. Disturbed by disagreeable dreams. 

22. Bad taste in mouth of mornings. 

23. Lumpy feeling in throat and at edge of the ribs 

24. Burning feeling in throat or along breast bone. 

25. Great deal of wind on stomach. 



DYSPEPTIC THROAT-AIL. 203 

This long array of symptoms arises from a single 
form of disease, and are often complicated with slight 
affections of the throat and lungs, and strange as it may 
appear to the general reader, I look upon such cases 
as more hopeful of cure than when the lungs or throat 
alone are decidedly affected, inasmuch as other parts of 
the body divide the violence of the disease with the 
lungs. Sometime ago I saw a tall spare gentleman, 
1104, aged 38 ; had been ailing fifteen years ; symptoms 
became gradually worse until he had to give up his 
business, and when I saw him he had been confined to 
his home for some weeks, not being able to go from one 
room to another without discomfort, causing cough, 
chilliness, fatigue. He had constant night sweats, great 
constipation, unsatisfying sleep ; large expectoration of 
whitish mucus, and greenish yellow thick matter; cough- 
ing it up day and night, a teacupfull perhaps in twenty- 
four hours ; appetite variable and poor ; pain, heaviness, 
weight, load in stomach all the time ; pain in the fore- 
head, temples, between the eyes, aching of the limbs, 
great thirst, extraordinary chilliness, pulse weak and 
very rapid, spirits depressed, had fallen away very much. 

This was certainly a formidable array of symptoms, 
but considering their character and connection, I ex- 
pressed an opinion that there was greater hope of arrest- 
ing the progress of the disease than if the lungs only had 
been affected. 

I saw him next, fourteen days after my first visit. 
His appetite was regular and good; his sleep satisfac- 
tory ; constipation removed, night sweats entirely gone, 
walked half a mile out of doors daily in March, with 
comfort and advantage ; expectoration entirely changed, 
and cough very much abated, although nothing had 



2B4 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

been done expressly for it, and the only remnant of pain 
was in the stomach, and even that was almost entirely 
gone, and the future looked hopefully bright. 

So much for having a disease divided, and entering 
courageously upon a course of treatment, however nu- 
merous may be the symptoms. But let not the reader 
imagine, that with similar symptoms, he would derive a 
like benefit, and so speedily. Such an improvement 
does not take place sometimes in the practice of months. 
In many cases not at all, much depending on the energy 
of the patient, the facilities of good nursing, and affec- 
tionate, willing attentions. And particularly do I wish 
the same thing to be understood in reference to all the 
cases of remarkable improvement and restoration which 
have been already given. The vast majority of cases, 
when they do get well at all, do so by slow degrees, 
through various drawbacks, hindrances and discourage- 
ments ; and at a great expense of time, of patient atten- 
tion, and of energetic determination to follow implicitly 
the directions which are given from time to time. It is 
no child's task to get rid of diseases which have been 
burrowing in the system for years and years. A con- 
stitution which has for many months been subjected to a 
pulling down process, is not to be repaired in a day or 
week, or month, by a few drops or pills. If built up at 
all, it is to be done by a systematic effort, long conti- 
nued, to invite back the strength, to husband its re- 
sources, more by natural and safe means, than by un- 
certain and violent and frequent medicines. In such 
cases, physic is an occasional aid, nothing more. Let 
the invalid consider these remarks well, and repress all 
extravagant expectations of instantaneous effects, of 
speedy cures, unless he applies within the first month, 



UNSEEN CASES. 265 

or two of the first appearance of his symptoms, then in- 
deed, but only then, may a speedy and permanent re- 
storation to substantial health be confidently anticipated 
in affections of the throat arid lungs. 

UNSEEN CASES. 

A large proportion of the persons for whom I have 
prescribed, I have never seen, or have seen but once. 
Perhaps the majority of the cases already given in these 
pages is of this character. Any one who fabricates an 
article from a pattern furnished, soon learns to work 
without that pattern. There is in the diseases to which 
this book is devoted a routine course of symptoms, a 
kind of family likeness. It is true, that scarcely any 
two cases occurring in a month, are in all respects the 
same ; age, sex, constitution, habits of life, all modifying 
the symptoms, aggravating some, ameliorating others, 
but the great general, prominent, distinguishing features 
are similar,, requiring a similar general treatment. In 
acute, in critical diseases, it is important that the physi- 
cian should see the patient daily, sometimes hourly; 
but in those of a chronic character it is widely different, 
as changes take place slowly, and are not of a speedily 
threatening character. The comforts, conveniences, facil- 
ities of home, very far outweigh any advantage to be 
derived from the daily inspection of a physician. And 
it is my hope that hereafter, as heretofore, by means 
of my general publications, and by private instructions 
adapted to individual cases, as their varying circum- 
stances may require, I may be able to place within the 
reach of many whom I may never see, the means of cure, 
and thus be of some little use, now and then, to the 
world I live in. It is certainly more satisfactory to first 
12 



266 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

see a person desiring advice, and I prefer it, when it can 
be done without inconvenient expense, trouble, or ex- 
posure, but this advantage is often more than counter 
balanced by the loss of time occasioned by persons 
making preparation to leave home, sometimes requiring 
weeks if not months, the disease in the meanwhile infix- 
ing itself more deeply, and now and then, in the delay, 
passing the Rubicon of life. Therefore when persons 
cannot come at once, the better plan is to place them- 
selves under treatment without delay, and make their 
visit at some more convenient season afterwards. The 
great fatality of throat-ail and consumptive disease, as 
in cholera, is in the delay of the proper attentions, and 
not in the nature of the ailments themselves. This senti- 
ment should never be forgotten. 

TUBERCLE. 

I am anxious to compensate the ftader for any time 
he may have expended in perusing this book, although 
he may never come under my care. I think I may do 
so by divesting him of some of the terror of tubercles 
under which he may very possibly suffer. Many per- 
sons seem to think, that if they have tubercles on the 
lungs, death is inevitable. It is true, that tubercles 
are the seeds of death, but in a qualified sense. They 
do not always spring up. They must soften, ripen and 
rot, else they may exist in the lungs for life without 
doing any appreciable injury. They are made to decay 
by a succession of bad colds, by long continued weaken- 
ing sickness, or discharges from the body, by riotous 
living, by irregular practices and habits of life, by for 
bidden indulgences. These things can be avoided by all. 
and to those who have the strength of will to avoid 



TUBERCLE. 2G? 

them, tubercles have no terrors. Health is a duty : 
a duty which all can perform. Perhaps there is not an 
exception in a million. Let the reader discharge that 
duty by avoiding what I have named, and in addition by 
practicing regular, systematic habits of life, studying and 
striving to be temperate in eating, in drinking, in sleep- 
ing, in exercise, in business ; maintaining a quiet, steady, 
unanxious, ungrasping, cheerful frame of mind : these are 
antidotes to tubercles ; under their influence tubercles 
can never ripen, it is a medical impossibility. 

Tubercles attack various parts of the body, each part 
giving a different name to the disease. 

Tubercle in the lungs, is consumption. 

Tubercle in the neck, is king's evil. 

Tubercle in the joint, is white swelling. 

Tubercle in the back bone, induces spinal disease. 

Tubercle in the hip joint, is hip disease. 

Tubercle in the loins, is lumber abscess. 

Tuberele in the abdomen, or rather in the mesenteric 
glands, is called in the South, Negro consumption, the 
proper name is Tabes Mesenterica. It causes death by 
the glands of the abdomen hardening and preventing the 
nutriment which is derived from the food, from passing 
into the general circulation, hence such persons waste 
gradually away to skin and bone, painless and without 
cough or expectoration often, to the very last hour. 

Tubercle in the bowels is a frequent cause of chronic 
diarrhoea, especially in high livers, such as eat high 
seasoned food, and drink freely of wines and stronger 
liquors. Such usually die in the prime of life, which 
ought to be between fifty and sixty years of age. It is 
almost always fatal. 



268 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

Tubercle in the lining of the nostrils of a horse, is 
called u glanders y 

Tubercle in the brain causes symptoms varying ac- 
cording to the locality of their deposite. Miss Ophelia 
W — , a young lady of rare excellence of character, and 
of great mental promise, was attacked with this fatal 
form of disease. Her first symptoms were extraordi- 
nary mirthfulness and talkativeness, succeeded by a dis- 
tressing silence for weeks together, and an expression of 
countenance so desolately sad that it was painful to con- 
template it. And thus she died in her nineteenth year. 
For this disease there is no remedy. 

Tubercles are not necessarily fatal or even appreciably 
injurious in the lungs, for in numberless instances they 
remain dormant for life. In fact, few persons die after 
forty years of age of any disease, in whose lungs are not. 
found tubercles which have remained innocuous. It is 
only when made to soften, ripen, and cause destructive 
decay by repeated bad colds and weakening diseases, 
that they become so ruinous to human life. Nor does 
it follow that their softening must necessarily destroy 
life, it is their nature, like that of a common boil, to 
soften, increase, turn yellow, burst, discharge, and then 
heal up, as it does in innumerable instances in the lungs, 
in white swelling, in king's evil ; and the scientific me- 
thod of conducting them all, is to treat them as a consti- 
tutional disease. Their nature is, when thus aided, like 
many other diseases, to cure themselves, and that they 
do so without any aid, spontaneously, no physician 
thinks of denying. But the misfortune is that nature is 
not let alone, she is thwarted at every turn, the invalid 
turns at once to medicine, to warm rooms, to bundling 
up the body, to forcing himself to eat, to repressing his 



TUBERCLE. 269 

cough, to torturing his body by all sorts of contrivances, 
tiring some muscles, over-straining others, forcibly con- 
straining a third class, and interfering with the circula- 
tion of the whole, for it must be apparent to the least 
thinking reader, that if one spot of the body is pressed 
upon, the blood is kept from flowing through that spot, 
it stagnates there, and instantly there is a tendency to 
putrefaction ; water itself becomes putrid if it is kept 
from motion, and so with the blood, and one drop of 
blood being tainted, aids that much towards tainting the 
whole mass, and thus it is that as far as the lungs are 
concerned, braces of every description must under all 
conceivable circumstances be injurious in their tendency. 

Tubercle and cancer are much alike, both begin by a 
hard lump, both are separated from depraved blood 
either by exudation, deposition, or secretion, the great 
difference is two fold. 

Cancer is organized, living ; tubercle is unorganized, 
lifeless. Cancer cannot but be fearfully painful. Tuber- 
cle may be painless. Tubercle and cancer are not the 
beginning of the disease, they are the result of depraved 
blood. Consumption begins in reality before tubercles 
are deposited, and of course before cough commences, 
and it is before there is any cough, before there is any 
tubercle, that consumption is to be most confidently at- 
tacked, and then its arrest and perfect cure is as certain 
as any thing can be. The question then arises, how can 
the existence of consumptive disease be discovered in 
these impalpable beginnings? 

Imperfect circulation of the blood ; 

Imperfect respiration of the air; 

These both must and do always exist for some time, 
before the blood becomes impure, before the tubercle is 



270 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

deposited, before the cough takes place, before softening 
occurs, &c. 

The pulse and the breath must therefore be watched 
over. But there is no invariable rule for the pulse, 
some persons seem to have good general health with a 
pulse of fifty in a minute. I recently received a letter 
from a gentleman saying, " My pulse formerly averaged 
sixty-eight beats in a minute, but in 1847, in a passage 
from Hong Kong to Amoy in China, feeling a little un- 
well, I found it to be forty -five, at which it has conti- 
nued ever since, full and strong, and my general health 
is good." 

On the other hand persons may be in good health 
with a pulse which beats eighty times in a minute ; but 
these are both exceptions ; as a very general rule I do 
not feel satisfied if the pulse is over seventy -two ; from 
sixty-eight to seventy-two is the general number of per- 
sons in the enjoyment of substantial health, and of the 
two, I feel safer to have it sixty-eight in men of mature 
age, and two higher in women. 

The pulse then being variable, there is no standard in 
reference to health of unvarying applicability. It must 
therefore be taken in connection with the breathing, not 
as to the number of respirations in a minute, for although 
grown persons in good health breathe about eighteen 
times in a minute, yet good health may be present at 
any number from fourteen to twenty-two, but any num- 
ber over eighteen, is suspicious. The pulse and the 
breathing should be taken when the person has been 
sitting quietly some half an hour, and not within two 
hours after eating a regular full meal, for motion and 
digestion excite both the pulse and the breathing. A 
person can never accurately time his own breathing, for 



A GENERAL RULE OF HEALTH. 271 

the moment his attention is drawn to the subject it be- 
comes unnatural ; it must therefore be counted by a 
second person when the subject is wholly unconscious 
that the observation is being made. 

A good general rule of health is when the breathing 
multiplied by four, gives the pulse of the same indivi- 
dual. Thus a breathing of seventeen in a minute, gives 
sixty-eight pulsations in a minute. But when the mul- 
tiplication exceeds eiglny, there is danger. The number 
of pulsations and the number of respirations per minute, 
being different in different persons without impairing 
the health under certain limitations, that is, not over 
eighteen and seventy-two, the action of the lungs must 
be estimated in some other way which is uniform, which 
has one standard to every class of circumstances. 

Spirometry meets these conditions, and with the pul- 
sations and respirations, constitutes an unfailing test. It 
is therefore that I consider it one of the most valuable 
ideas of modern medicine. As previously explained, it 
is the measuring of a man's breath. The common 
sense and ingenuity of the people has led them to experi- 
ment on the best method of doing this, and to conclude 
that those men are not likely to die of consumption 
who have large chests. Why ? Because the larger the 
chest, the more lungs, the more air. The same remark 
is made of good runners, good divers, of those who can 
count a hundred audibly at a single breath, holding the 
nose all the time with the thumb and finger, and being 
careful not to draw in more breath through the lips 
during the experiment. Others have made the measure- 
ment by competition as to who could blow out a candle 
at the greatest distance. A person who can blow out a 
candle fairly burning, not near a wall, at the distance of 



272 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

thirty inches between the candle and the mouth, may be 
said to have a good pair of lungs. But all these are 
only approximative, something is due to tact, something 
more to practice, and after all there is an unsatisfactory 
indefmiteness. In spirometry these objections do not 
apply. It is a mathematical measurement designated by 
figures, which answer to a certain set of conditions. The 
amount of air capable of being expired from a man's 
lungs is accurately measured to a single cubic inch or 
half inch. Different persons require a different amount 
of air, but these are regulated by nature herself, who 
modifies them by certain fixed proportions. 

Sex. Age. Breathing. Pulse. Height. Weight. Capacity 

Male 40 17 68 6 feet 140 262 

These seven correspondences occurring in one man, 
are unfailing indications of the full healthful condition 
of the lungs, and when the pulse and breathing are 
steadily over these and the capacity is under in such a 
man for a month or two, or more, then are the foimda- 
tions of Consumption being laid, and infallibly so as far as 
my experience has gone. But these three deviations are 
seldom if ever alone. Notes of alarm are sounded in 
other parts of the empire of life. Some two or three, 
or more of the forms of ailments named on page 262, 
are present in a degree more or less decided, some short- 
ness of breath, some weakness in legs and knees in as- 
cents, a little decline in flesh either in weight or firm- 
ness of feel, some tendency to chilliness not usual, a 
growing susceptibility to take cold ; sleep not as satis- 
factory as it used to be; not that substantial relish for 
food as in other years, and not as perfect comfortable- 
ness after meals ; perhaps the skin is dry, or there is a 



EARLY INDICATIONS OF CONSUMPTION. 273 

feeling of feverishness at times, a bad morning taste, 
and a whitish or rough tongue. 

I hope the reader will not misunderstand what I 
have said. The last symptoms enumerated are of 
themselves no more the sign of founding consumption 
than they are of a north-wester, for if they were let 
alone, and every atom of food were let alone for a day 
or two, they would in myriads of instances disappear of 
themselves. They must be in connection with a wrong 
condition of the pulse and breathing and lung measure- 
ment. And more, these things must co-exist for weeks 
together, if not months. What I mean to say is this : 
that if these circumstances are present in a marked de- 
gree all the time, for two or three months, then is it as 
certain as any thing else in medicine is certain, that such 
a person is inevitably falling into consumptive disease, 
unless mild, moderate, safe and continued means are 
taken to correct these conditions and eradicate the causes 
of them. Anct it is to the detection of, and attention to 
these early indications of approaching consumption that 
all my published efforts are directed. And if T can only 
succeed by these efforts, continued for a life time, in 
securing an early attention to these things on the part 
of any considerable number of my countrymen, then 
shall my own decline towards the grave be cheered with 
the reflection that I have left a useful mark behind me. 
For it is impossible of denial, that if these things were 
properly regarded in their beginnings, Consumption 
would be a rare disease, instead of being so common, 
that perhaps never an eye shall trace this line which 
shall not one day fill with tears by reason of the ravages 
of this same universal scourge. 

I have no sympathy with those who hold out induce- 
12* 



274 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

merits to the common multitude, that by their medicines, 
their contrivances, or their skill, the cure of fixed Con- 
sumption is an event of common occurrence, for in any 
given case it is possible, not more ; while it is in the 
highest degree probable in any given case, that such case 
will die, and that at no distant day. A cure, that is, a 
permanent arrest of unmistaken Consumption, ought in 
all cases to be striven for, resolutely, hopefully, to the 
last day of life, S^HT* but assurance of probable success 
in any instance is a wrong done to a weak and trusting 
fellow man. 

CLUSTERS OF TUBERCLES. 

I here give the reason for the statement just made, 
that the permanent arrest of consumptive disease in its 
advanced stages should be always striven for to the last. 
To a person in actual Consumption, what I am about to 
say will afford more solid, rational comfort and encour- 
agement than will repay him for the trouble of reading 
this book. And knowing as I do the full truth of the 
statements, and which too will be corroborated by any 
intelligent physician, I will make them in a manner not 
capable of misapprehension, every word has its full 
natural meaning, there are no mental reservations, 
nothing to be " understood" in the sense of the agree- 
ments of nominatives and verbs, so inscrutable and per- 
plexing to the young grammarian. 

I wish to direct very special attention to these remarks 
in reference to Consumption, since many have been 
hastily abandoned, and have died in consequence of their 
neglect, who otherwise might have lived. 

A person never dies from a first or single attack of 
Consumption. Persons generally get well of one, two, 



CLUSTERS OF TUBERCLES. 275 

three, or more attacks of this disease ; but each attack 
weakens and impairs the constitution, and these contin- 
uing to follow one another, there is at length a wreck 
and ruin of the whole. I mean by an attack of Con- 
sumption, as follows : 

From causes previously named, tubercles, which may 
be termed the seeds of Consumption, form about the 
lungs : not over the lungs generally, but in small patches 
or clusters, as large as a half dime piece, and many 
times larger ; between these patches the lungs are healthy 
and sound ; these patches of tubercles would produce no 
inconvenience, if they did not ripen ; that is, enlarge, 
turn yellow, and run together a liquid mass, as small 
shot if laid side by side on a shovel in the fire, will run 
together, when melted. When this ripening process 
commences, by the tubercles beginning to increase in 
size, preparatory to softening, the person begins to cough 
more, and he thinks he has taken a fresh cold ; as the 
mass becomes more liquid, it moves more or less by 
change of position, or by the air, in breathing, passing 
through it; this motion causes it to act, as any other 
foreign body would act in the lungs, a crumb of bread 
for example ; that is, produces a tickling sensation, which 
causes irrepressible cough; this cough is an effort of 
nature to rid the lungs of this foreign, irritating, inflam- 
ing substance ; it is an effort of nature to cure the patient ; 
as soon as it is all out, the cough subsides, and the pa- 
tient begins to get well ; just as a boil begins to get well 
when all the matter is removed from it, and never before. 
Tubercles ripen in spots, as berries do in a berry patch. 
But, unfortunately, no sooner is the patient rid of one 
ripening process, feels better, and begins to hope anew, 
when another cluster begins to ripen, and the same pro- 



276 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

cess has to be gone over again ; and thus it is in cease- 
less succession for months and even years sometimes, 
until the poor suffering body is wearied and worn to a 
skeleton, and death at last ends the tedious conflict. 

This is the case where there are a number of clusters 
of tubercles, in different parts of the lungs. But some- 
times, from causes unknown to us, there is but a single 
cluster, while the lungs are in every other part perfectly 
sound. In a case like this, a person goes through all the 
symptoms of regular Consumption, more or less violent, 
according to the size of the patch, and strength of his 
constitution ; and when the last remnant of matter is 
coughed up, the cough ceases, the system gets repose, 
gains strength, and the man gets permanently well, be- 
cause there is no other cluster of tubercles to carry him 
through a similar process. The most of constitutions 
are able to go through several such attacks ; any one, on 
reflection, will find that those whom he has known to 
die of Consumption, did not do so until they had gotten 
better and worse many times, and the appearance of the 
lungs after death confirms this view of the case. 

From this we may see the propriety of resolutely bat- 
tling with Consumption to the very last, in the hope that 
each may be the last cluster to contend with ; for very 
often, even if a final cure is not effected, a year or two 
more of life is added, in a considerable degree of health- 
fulness and comparative enjoyment. And although I 
would not say anything to excite strong hopes of life in a 
person who is already confined to his room and bed from 
Consumption fixed in the system, yet what has been 
stated in reference to clusters of tubercles, should not be 
lost sight of, as the following case will show, taken from 
the London Lancet, p. 185, March 1852, giving a report 



CLUSTERS OF TUBERCLES. 277 

of a medical lecture by T. Thompson, M. D., F. R. S., 

where the patient having all the prominent marks of 
Consumption in May, 1848, was treated accordingly. 
and to all appearance was cured, and remained so for two 
years, when she died of bilious diarrhoea. There was 
naturally a strong desire to see her lungs, to decide 
whether she did really have Consumption, and whether 
or not the disease had been permanently arrested. The 
lungs were taken out and carefully preserved by Dr. 
Quain, in London, and may now be seen at any time as 
" an example of what in conventional language may be 
termed a ' cure' of Consumption in the third stage." 
The full account is given in the " Transactions of the 
Pathological Society for 1851-2." The lungs have five 
lobes or divisions, three on the right side, two on the 
left ; nearly the whole of the upper lobe of the left lung 
was destroyed by tubercular disease, but it was so con- 
tracted as to present a cavity about the size of a large 
walnut, containing about half a teaspoonful of a whey- 
like fluid. The left lung displaced nine inches of water, 
while the right lung displaced twenty-three inches. This 
shows how large a portion of the lungs may decay away, 
and yet recovery may take place, and good health be 
enjoyed. Giving ocular proof, as Dr. Quain observes, 
" of the great extent to which the ravages of Consump- 
tion may extend, and yet be stayed." 

The whey -like substance contained in the cavity, is in 
the nature of a lubricant thrown out by nature to keep 
the parts from becoming rigid and dry, and which may 
keep up through life, in persons who have been cured, 
some cough and expectoration, which in such a case are 
of healthful tendency. 



278 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

The reader has perhaps had opportunities of noticing 
in his own sphere of observation, proofs of the fact stated 
above, that persons do not die of first attack of Consump- 
tion, in dialogues of this kind : ' How is such an one 1 
He is quite well now, but sometime ago we thought he 
was going into a decline.' Such cases are where the 
cluster of tubercles was single, and limited ; they softened, 
decayed away, emptied by cough and expectoration, and 
a little fever or hectic ; a cavity was left, which being 
small, soon healed up, and health was restored; and 
dozens of such attacks may occur before the lungs are 
sufficiently impaired to cause loss of life. Therefore 

It is rational and right to make determined and hopeful 
efforts to arrest Consumption in every stage. 

TUBERCULAR DISEASE HEREDITARY. 

Consumption, scrofula, insanity, are hereditary dis- 
eases, as much so as peculiarities of constitution or per- 
sonal appearance. 

" A peculiar thickness of the under lip has been hered- 
itary in the imperial House of Hapsburg, ever since the 
marriage, some centuries ago, with the Polish family 
Jagellon, whence it came. The thick and hanging under 
lip, is in this case, alike the sign of royalty and animalty, 
all such persons being dear lovers of the good things of 
this life, especially of good eating. In the English royal 
family a fullness of the lower and lateral parts of the 
face is conspicuous in the portraits of the whole series 
of sovereigns, from George I. to Victoria, and has been 
equally marked in other members of the family. The 
females of the house of Gordon have long been remark- 
able for a peculiarly elegant conformation of the neck. 
The Clackmannanshire Bruces, who are descended from 



TUBERCULAR DISEASE HEREDITARY. 279 

a common stock with the famous Robert Bruce of Scot- 
land, are said to have that strongly-marked form of the 
cheek bones and jaws which appear on the coins of that 
heroic monarch, as it did in his actual face when his 
bones were disinterred at Dumfermline, about thirty 
years ago. The prevalent tallness of the inhabitants of 
Potsdam, many of whom are descended from the gigantic 
guards of Frederick I. ; the Spanish features observable 
in the people of the county of Galway, in which, some 
centuries ago, several Spanish settlements were made; 
and the hereditary beauty of the women of Prague, are 
well-known facts which have frequently attracted the 
attention of chronologists. The burgesses of Rome (the 
most invariable portion of every population) exhibit at 
the present day precisely the same type of face and form 
as their ancestors, whose busts may be seen carved in 
relief on the ancient sarcophagi ; and the Jewish phy- 
siognomies portrayed upon the sepulchral monuments 
of Egypt are identical with those which may be observed 
among modern Jews in the streets of any of our great 
cities." 

The great mass of consumptive persons inherit it from 
their parents : from fathers who were impregnated with 
disease before marriage ; from mothers who never had 
any constitution, having been brought up to do nothing 
but read novels, lounge about and eat during the day, 
and spend their nights in crowded, heated rooms ; who 
were guiltless of ever having used a broom, or baked a 
loaf, or broiled a steak, or arranged their own rooms, or 
darned a stocking, or made a dress ; but who would sit by 
the hour and allow a mistakenly loving mother of twice 
their age, wear out her life in doing these same things 
for her, while she is doing nothing for herself but sowing 



280 BRONCHITIS AJSTD KINDRED DISEASES. 

the seeds of a blasted constitution which is to make her 
a puling invalid for life, not however to ' break out' until 
a short time after marriage, when having no stamina of 
constitution, she dies in her first confinement, or lives 
along only to give birth to a degenerate, effeminate race, 
who live a brief day of pain and sickliness and suffering, 
and die before they pass their " teens," or very soon 
after. 

But there is even a worse picture than this to be drawn 
from the actual life of these frail scions of a better stock. 
In many instances there is not stamina enough for re- 
production, as if nature, with instinctive providence, 
stepped in to save the race. Soon after marriage, if not 
revealed before, ill health appears. This renders the 
young wife unfit to discharge her domestic duties ; some 
one must be obtained to supply her place, as she now 
has no affectionate mother " to slave" for her. In addi- 
tion, the young husband is naturally disquieted at his 
wife's suffering from sickness, his attention is drawn 
away from his business, a physician is called in, and a 
yearly bill is the consequence. These different items 
become a serious drawback on a young man's income. 
He begins to see that he is not laying up any thing, 
next, that it is as much as he can do to make " both ends 
meet" He now begins to think that he is spending the 
prime of his life to no purpose, and for the first time the 
terrible reflection flits across his mind, " It is not worth 
while for me to attempt to get rich." Then he's lost ! 
When once a young man is discouraged from his ambi- 
tion to be rich, I say he is lost — that is, lost to high 
purposes, to manliness,- to eminence, position, influence. 
A few, it is true, are content to live along, without plung- 
ing into deeper depths, but the majority, perhaps the 



TUBERCULAR DISEASE HEREDITARY. 281 

great majority, losing their ambition, other greater 
losses follow, of pride, of self-respect ; then comes the 
want of excitement, to be gratified by other leaks from 
the income, — the theatre, the circus, the negro songs, 
the society gatherings, the porter bottle, the lager beer, 
the gin sling, the brandy toddy, and the drunkard's 
grave. And all this from having a sickly young wife, 
made sickly by being brought up to do nothing, at the 
expense of a mother's life-long slavery. This is not 
imagination. It is an uncolored picture of a sad reality. 
My practice brings me in contact with persons whose 
histories are similar to the sketch I have given, so much 
so, that in being counselled as to the proprieties of mar- 
riage on the part of that worthier class of young men, 
who have to depend on themselves in the world, it has 
been a standing advice : Of two young women, one of a 
pale, frail look and form, with ten or twenty thousand 
dollars, the other with nothing but a strong healthful 
body, and a will to worJc, by all odds take the latter, for 
should they both live fifteen or twenty years, the former 
will spend and be a drawback to more than the amount 
she brought, while the latter will save, if indeed she 
does not do something towards making that amount, with 
the infinite difference between a family of puny, sickly, 
complaining children, and one of cheerful, hearty health- 
fulness. For aside from criminality, no more poignant 
pain pierces a parent's heart than to see a darling child 
suffering from a diseased body, to know and feel that for 
life long it must painfully strive in a hard world, where 
it is often a struggle for subsistence even with good 
health, but to have to engage in these struggles in a 
body of pain and feebleness, and suffering, what parent's 
heart can contemplate it without the saddest of all emo- 



282 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tions ! Therefore, if the reader wishes to have no part 
nor lot in fathering upon society a family of children 
whose constitution is blasted at the root, let such reader 
make health a personal duty, and take care also, that the 
companion for life have substantial health and good 
principles, if nothing else, not even a penny's dower, not 
a second coat. 

Consumption and insanity, and idiocy are transmis- 
sible : are given to the children by the fault of the 
parents. And it is a fearful fact which statistics verify, 
that more than two-thirds of all idiotic children are born 
of parents, one or both of whom would get drunk. No 
man is so perfectly like a fool as when he is completely 
drunk. At such times the animalties of our nature are 
rampant, and the type of " fool" is indelibly fixed upon 
the future being. This does not happen to the habitual 
drunkard only. It happens in the act, if either parent 
had never been drunk before, and should never be drunk 
again. By all the holy considerations of a parent's na- 
ture, let this fact be never forgotten through life. 



As the preservation of health, and recovery from all 
forms of disease have inseparable relations with what we 
eat, several tables of food are given for reference. 

Food, its Digestibility, Nutrittveness and time re- 
quired for its Digestion. 

The following table is one of very general interest 
and utility. The food easiest digested, does not always 
contain the most nourishment; nuts, for example, and 
oils are more nutritious than boiled rice, yet the latter 
is digested in one hour, while the former require several 
hours, Food which is most nutritious is marked the 



food. 283 

highest ; wheat, for example, is marked ninety-five, be- 
cause out of one hundred parts, ninety-five, that is, 95 
per cent, of it is taken up by the nutrient vessels, and 
applied to the nourishment, and support, and strength 
of the system. 

The article of food most difficult of digestion, is marked 
one, the easiest, one hundred. For the table giving the 
time in which food is digested, the world is indebted to 
Dr. William Beaumont, of St. Louis, Missouri, to whom 
was allowed the rare opportunity, never thus afforded 
to man, before or since, of looking into the stomach, 
while digestion was going on, watching its progress 
from hour to hour ; hence his statements are taken for 
granted by all eminent medical writers throughout the 
world. The orifice, which is still open, was made in the 
stomach of Alexis St. Martin, who is yet living, on the 
sixth of June, 1822, by the accidental discharge of a 
musket, loaded with powder and duck shot. 

Dr. Beaumont has informed me that it was his inten- 
tion to visit St. Martin in Canada, and make further ex- 
periments. The lovers of science throughout the world 
and throughout all time, would be laid under still greater 
obligations to this gentleman, if he fulfils his intentions, 
for a thousand years may pass without repeating the 
rare opportunity. 

In the following table the digestibility of oils, means 
the time at the end of which they pass out of the stomach. 

Boiled rice and soused pigs' feet being the easiest of 
digestion, that is, soonest prepared to leave the stomach, 
are marked in the last column, one hundred ; they are 
digested in the shortest time, that is, one hour. While 
fresh beef suet boiled, requires five hours and a half. 



284 



BRONCHITIS AXD KIXDRED DISEASES. 



TABLE OF FOOD.— No. 1, 



Aponeurosis 

Apples, mellow 

Do. sour, hard 

Do. sweet, mellow.. 

Barley 

Bass, striped, fresh 

Beans, pod 

Do. and green corn.. 
Beef, fresh, lean, rare. . . 

do. do. dry 

do. steak 

with salt only. . .. 
f;ith mustard, &c. 



Esrg& 
Do. 
Do 

Do 
Do 
Do 



fresh . 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Flounder, fresh.. 
Fowls, domestic. 
Do. do. 

Gelatin 

Goose, wild 

Heart, animal 

Lamb, fresh.. . 



Mode of 
preparation. 



Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do 

Do. old, hard, salted 

Beets 

Brains, animal 

Bread, corn 

Do. wheat, fresh \ 

Butter j 

Cabbage, head ! 

Do. with vinegar, \ 

Do 

Cake, corn I 

Do, sponge 

Carrot, orange J 

Cartilage, gristle 

Catfish, fresh 

Cheese, old. strong ' 

Chicken, full grown... 

Codfish, cured drv 

Corn (sreen) and beans 

Custard 

Duck, domesticated 

Do. wild 

Dumpling, apple , 



boiled 
raw 
do. 
do. 
boiled 
broiled 
boiled 

do. 
roasted 

do. 
broiled 
boiled 

do. 
fried 
boiled 

do. 

do. 
baked 

do. 
melted 
raw 
do. 

boiled 
b^ked 

do. 
boiled 

do. 
fried 
raw 

fricassed 
boiled 

do. 
baked 
roasted 

do. 
boiled 
hard boiled 
soft boiled 
fried 
roasted 
raw 

whipped 
fried 
boiled 
roasted 
boiled 
roasted 
fried 
boiled 



fcg 




e "3 






Z- t£ 


s 


3 


2 


2 50 


I 50 


2 


3 


2 so 


3 45 


3 


3 30 


3 


2 45 


3 30 


4 


4 15 


3 45 


1 45 


3 15 


3 30 


3 30 


2 30 


2 


4 30 


3 


2 30 


3 15 


4 15 


3 30 


3 30 


2 45 | 


2 


3 45 


2 45 


4 


4 30 


3 


3 30 


3 


3 30 


2 15 


1 30 


3 30 


4 


4 


2 30 


2 30 


4 


2 30 



TABLE OF FOOD. 



285 



TABLE OF FOOD.— No. 1.— Continued. 



Liver, Beefs, fresh 

Marrow, animal, spinal 

Meat and Vegetables 

Milk 

Do 

Mutton, fresh 

Do. do 

Do. do 

Oysters, fresh 

Do. do 

Do. do 

Parsnips , 

Pig, sucking 

Pig's feet, soused , 

Pork, fat and lean , 

Do. recently salted , 

Do. do. , 

Do. do. , 

Do. do. 

Do. do. 

Potatoes, Irish 

Do. do 

Do. do 

Rice 

Sago 

Salmon, salted 

Sausage, fresh 

Soup, barley , 

Do. bean.... , 

Do. beef, vegetables, and bread 

Do. chicken 

Do. marrow bones 

Do mutton 

Do. oysters 

Suet, beef, fresh 

Do. mutton 

Tapioca 

Tendon, boiled 

Tripe, soused 

Trout, salmon, fresh 

Do. do 

Turkey, domestic 

Do. do 

Do. wild 

Turnips, flat 

Veal, fresh 

Do. do 

Vegetables and meat hashed 

Venison, steak 



Mode of 
preparation. 



boiled 

do. 
hashed 
boiled 
raw 
roasted 
broiled 
boiled 
raw 
roasted 
stewed 
boiled 
roasted 
boiled 
roasted 
boiled 
fried 
broiled 
raw 
stewed 
boiled 
roasted 
bHked 
boiled 

do. 

do. 
broiled 
boiled 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 
fried 
roasted 
boiled 
roasted 
boiled 
broiled 
fried 
warmed 
broiled 



2 30 
2 30 

1 



30 

2 30 

3 20 
L 

1 45 
4 

3 20 
1 30 
3 

4 
3 

4 51 
3 30 
3 30 



30 



4 
2 
5 
1 
1 30 

1 30 

2 30 
2 25 

2 18 

3 30 
4 

4 30 
3 30 
1 35 



50 
37 
40 
50 
44 
30 
33 
33 
34 
30 
28 
40 
40 

100 
19 
22 
23 
30 
33 
33 
28 
40 
40 

100 
57 
25 
30 
66 
33 
25 
33 
23 
28 
28 
18 
22 
50 
18 

100 
66 
66 
40 
51 
43 
28 
25 
22 
40 
63 



286 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



In the next table are found articles whose amount of 
nutriment is ascertained. That is, in one hundred ounces 
of roasted beef there is an amount of nourishment equal 
to twenty-six ounces. The use of the table is this, that 
as a general rule where persons are costive, they should 
use such food as has most bulk and least nutriment. 

TABLE OF FOOD.— No. 2. 



KIND OF FOOD 



Almonds, 

Apples, 

Apricots, 

Barley, 

Beans, 

Beef, 



Blood, 

Bread, 

Cabbage, 

Carrots, 

Cherries, 

Chickens, 

Codfish, 

Cucumbers, 

Eggs, 

Flour, bolted, 

do. unbolted 
Gooseberries, 
Grapes, 
Haddock, 
Melons, 
Milk, 
Mutton, 
Oats, 
Oils, 
?eis. 
Peaches, 
Pears, 
Plums, 
Pork, 
Potatoes, 
Rice, 
Rve, 
Sole. 

Soup, barley, 
Strawberries, 
Turnips, 
Veal, 
Venison, 
Wheat, 



raw, 

do. 

do. 
boiled, 
dry, 

roasted, 
boiled, 

do. 
bnked, 
boiled, 

do. 
raw, 

fricasseed, 
boiled, 
raw, 
whipped, 

n bread, 

do. 
raw, 

do. 

boiled, 
raw, 

do. 

roasted, 
oat meal, 
raw, 
dry, 
raw, 

do. 

do. 
roast, 
boiled, 

do. 
rye bread, 
fried, 
boiled, 
raw, 
boiled, 
fried, 
broiled, 
in bread, 



*-: 


= c 




c 2 




c o 


3.5 




a> +3 






- » 


— p 




^ =f 


< a 


h.m 


-u 


66 






10 


1 50 


5 


26 






9-2 


2 


5 


87 


2 30 


4 


26 


3 30 


3 


15 


3 45 


3 


22 






80 


3 30 


3 


7 


4 30 


2 


10 


3 15 


3 


25 






27 


2 45 


4 


21 


2 


5 


CI 












13 


1 30 


7 


21 






34 






19 






27 






18 






3 






7 


2 15 


5 


30 


3 15 


3 


74 






96 


3 30 


3 


93 






20 






10 






29 






24 


5 15 


2 


13 


2 30 


4 


88 


1 


10 


79 






21 






20 


1 30 


7 


12 






4 


3 30 


3 


25 


4 3,i 




22 


1 3i 


6 


95 


3 30 


3 



iweet and mellow. 



boiled. 

fresh, lean, rare — broiled is dig. 
[in 3 h. 

warm corn bread, is easier of dig. 
raw cabbage " " 



digest in 2 hours if boiled. 
" 3 " broiled. 



raw or stewed, dige^ in 3 h. 
broiled or baked, " ' 3£ h. 



meat soups digest in 3 to 5 h. 
broiled digests in 4 hours. 



TABLE OF FOOD. 



The next- table is added simply as a matter of con- 
venience, to save time in ascertaining the easiest articles 
of digestion at a glance. 

TABLE OF FOOD.— No. 3. 



ARTICLES OF DIET. 


IN STOMACH. 




Preparation. 


Time of 

digestion. 

h. m. 




boiled 

do. 

do. 
raw 
boiled 
fried 
boiled 
raw 
broiled 
boiled 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 
broiled 
raw 
boiled 
raw 
do. 
do. 
roasted 

do. 
boiled 

do. 
roasted 

do. 

do. 
broiled 
warmed 
boiled 
baked 
boiled 


1 




1 




1 




1 30 




1 30 




1 30 




1 30 




1 30 




1 35 




1 45 




1 45 




2 


Barley 


2 


Milk 


2 




2 




2 




o 


Apples, sour, mellow 


2 




2 


Milk 


2 15 




2 15 


Turkey, wild 


2 18 


Turkey, domestic 


2 25 


Gelatine , 


2 30 




2 30 


Goose, wild 


2 30 




2 30 




2 30 


Hash, meat and vegetables 


2 30 
2 30 




2 30 




2 30 




2 30 


Potatoes, Irish 


baked 


2 30 
2 30 


Spinal marrow, animal < 


boiled 
fricasseed 
baked 
boiled 
raw 
do. 


2 40 




2 45 


Custard 


2 45 




2 45 


Apples, sour, hard 


2 50 




2 55 


Essrs fresh , 


3 




broiled 

roasted 

broiled 

raw 

stewed 


3 




3 


Beefs tea k 

Pork, recently sailed 


3 
3 




3 



288 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



TABLE OF FOOD.— No. 3.— Continued. 



ARTICLES OF DIET. 


IN STOMACH. 




Preparation . 


Time of 

digestion. 

h. m. 


Mutton, fresh , 


broiled 
boiled 

do. 

do. 

do. 

do. 
baked 
roasted 
broiled 

do. 
roasted 
baked 
boiled 
broiled 
fried 

do. 
stewed 
roasted 
boiled 
melted 
raw 
boiled 

do. 
baked 
boiled 

do. 
hard boiled 
fried 
boiled 

do. 

do. 
fried 
broiled 
boiled 
roasted 

do. 
boiled 
fried 
boiled 
fried 
boiled 

do. 

do. 
fried 
roasted 
boiled 

do. 
roasted 
boiled 

do. 


3 
3 




3 




3 




3 




3 




3 




3 15 




3 15 




3 15 




3 15 




3 15 




3 15 




3 20 




3 30 


Catfish, fresh 


3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 30 


Butter 


3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 30 




3 45 




3 45 




4 


Beef 


4 




4 




4 




4 




4 




4 




4 




4 15 




4 15 




4 15 


Cartilage 


4 15 
4 30 




4 30 




4 30 




4 30 




4 30 




5 15 




5 30 


Suet, beef, fresh 


5 30 



TABLE OF FOOD. 



289 



The per centage of Carbon and Nitrogen in some hinds 
of food is as follows : 



Gum Arabic... 

Sugar 

Starch 

Arrow Root — 
S. Almond Oil. 

Olive 

Lard 

Suet 

Butter 

Wheat 

Rye 

Oats 

Rye Bread 

Peas, dry 

Peas, green. . . 

Beans 

Lentils 

Potatoes 



0.14 
00 
00 
00 
0.29 
0.35 
00 
00 
00 
2. 
1. 
2. 

39. 

4. 
38. 
38. 
0.36 



Cabbage , 

Turnips 

do. dried... 
Artichokes.... 

Blood 

Milk 

Lean Meat.... 

Mixed 

Soup 

Apricots 

Peaches 

Cherries 

Gooseberries.. 

Apples 

Beef, roast.... 
Veal, roast. . . . 
Venison, roast. 



.28 
.J2 
2 00 
-03 
.03 
.03 
15. 
18. 
.75 
.17 
.93 
.57 



The Carbon in food supplies elements of respiration, of warmth. 
Nitrogen supplies elements of nutrition. 



The 



AMOUNT OF DAILY FOOD. 

Perhaps few readers know how much food one person 
ought to eat in twenty-four hours. Twelve ounces of 
wheat a day will feed a man well. The common allow 
ance of food to the inmates of Penitentiaries in the 
United States is one pound of meat, one pound of bread, 
and one pound of vegetables a day. A person in ordi- 
nary business should have one and a half pounds of solid 
food a day ; sedentary persons one-third less. Eight 
hundred convicts, who did not work, had their diet re- 
duced to half a pound of bread, and one ounce and a 
quarter of meat, made into soup : in a few weeks one 
half of them were afflicted with scurvy and other diseases. 

Always, Consumptive persons fall away, and are chilly. 
The whole object of food to all, is to supply nourishment 

13 



290 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



and fuel ; the amount of each is given as to a few arti- 
cles. The first column gives the proportion of nutri- 
ment, the second the amount of fuel, or elements of heat. 



Milk .... one, Nutriment . 


. . . 2 


Fu 


Beans . . . one, 


cc 


. .. n 


cc 


Oat meal . one 


a 


. . 5 


cc 


Barley . . one 


u 


. . 7 


ii 


Wheat . . . one 


a 


. . 8 


cc 


Potatoes . . one 


cc 


. . 9 


cc 


Rice .... one 


u 


. . 10 


u 


Turnips . . one 


cc 


. . 11 


cc 


Arrrow-root J 








Tapioca . . > one 


cc 


. . 26 


cc 


Sago . . . . ) 








Starch . . . one 


a 


. . 40 


cc 



Hence, the last named articles are given to young 
children, requiring as they do a great deal of warmth ; 
but they would not live long if fed on these alone. They 
must have milk in addition, or some other article con- 
taining a larger amount of the flesh-forming principle. 

One pound is equalled in weight by about twenty- 
eight silver half dollars. 

PREPARATIONS. 

60 Drops make one Teaspoon. 
4 Teaspoons " one Tablespoon. 

2 Tablespoons " one Ounce. 

2 Ounces " -one Wine-glass. 

2 Wine-glasses " one Gill or Teacup. 
4 Gills " one Pint. 

PREPARATIONS, RECIPES, ETC. 

which follow, are frequently referred to in my practice 
in conjunction with dietetics. 



PREPARATIONS, RECIPES, ETC. 291 

1. How to Toast Bread. — Keep the bread a proper dis- 
tance from the fire, .so as to make it of a straw color. It 
is spoiled if it is black, or even brown. 

2. Toast Water. — Take a slice of bread about three 
inches across and four long, a day or two old. When 
it is browned, not blackened, pour on it a quart of water 
which has been boiled and afterwards cooled. Cover 
the vessel, and after two hours, pour off the water from 
the bread gently. An agreeable flavor may be imparted 
by putting a piece of orange or lemon peel on the bread 
at the time the water is first poured on the bread. 

3. Barley Water. — Take two-tablespoons of pearl bar- 
ley, wash it well in cold water, then pour on it half a 
pint of water, and boil it fifteen minutes ; throw this water 
away, then pour on two quarts of boiling water, and boil 
down to a quart ; then strain it for use. An ounce of 
gum arabic dissolved in a pint of barley water is a good 
demulcent drink. 

4. Flax-seed Tea. — Take an ounce or full table-spoon of 
flaxseed, but not bruised, to which may be added two 
drams of bruised liquorice root ; pour on a pint of boil- 
ing water, place it covered near the fire for four hours, 
strain through a cotton or linen rag. Make it fresh 
daily, may add a little lemon juice or vinegar or loaf 
sugar. 

5. Tamarind Whey. — Two tablespoonfuls of tamarind, 
stirred in a pint of boiling milk ; then boil for fifteen 
minutes, and strain. 

6. Wine Whey. — Take a pint of milk, put it on the 
fire ; as soon as it begins to boil, pour on eight or ten 
tablespoons of Madeira wine, in which has been stirred 
two teaspoons of brown sugar ; stir the whole until it 



292 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

has been boiling for fifteen minutes ; then strain through 
a cloth. 

7. Boiled Flour and Milk. — Take a pint of flour; make 
it into a dough ball with water ; tie it tightly in a linen 
bag ; put it into a pan of water, (milk^is better), cover- 
ing the ball, and let it boil four or five hours ; place it 
before the fire to dry, cloth and all ; take it out of the 
cloth, remove the skin, dry the ball itself. Grate a 
tablespoon of this, and stir it into a pint of boiling milk, 
until a kind of mush is formed. 

8. Boiled Turnips. — Small turnips boiled make one of 
the best articles of food which invalids and convalescents 
can use. Carrots may be added; half and half. Boil 
them once ; repeat the boiling in fresh water until they 
are quite soft; press the water out through a coarse 
cloth ; then mix enough new milk to form a kind of 
pulp ; season with salt, and then place them before the 
fire until it is a little dry or crusted. 

9. Beef Tea. — Cut into thin slices a pound of lean 
meat, pour on a full quart of cold water, let it gradually 
warm over a gentle fire ; let it simmer half an hour, 
taking off the skum ; strain it through a napkin. Let 
it stand ten minutes, then pour off the clear tea. 

10. Cracked Wheat. — Dry some common wheat, then 
grind it in a coffee mill ; boil it three or four hours, or 
until it is of the consistence of well boiled rice ; add a 
little salt, a little milk, butter, cream, or molasses may 
be added, as in using hominy. It should be always 
washed clean, and then boiled long enough to become of 
the consistence of boiled rice or hominy. A pint of 
wheat dried and ground is enough for two days ; not to 
be used for supper. 



PREPARATIONS, RECIPES, ETC. 293 

11. Dandelion Diet Drink. — Take three ounces of the 
bruised root of the dandelion flower, which should be 
gathered - in July, August, and September ; pour on a 
quart of water, boil it to a pint, and strain it. 

12. Blaekberry cordial is the most agreeable of all 
non-medicinal agents, in diminishing the frequent, thin 
and light colored passages ; to be prepared thus : — 

Put the blackberries in a pot of water, boil until the 
juice leaves them, strain through a flannel bag ; add 
spices, loaf sugar, cinnamon and cloves to the taste, then 
boil again for twelve minutes, skim, and let cool. To 
three quarts of this juice add one quart of the best 
French brandy. 

13. To Boil Rice. — Take a pint of rice, wash it well, 
then soak it two hours in cold water ; have ready two 
quarts of boiling water with a little salt in it, in a stew 
pan. Half an hour before you wish to use the rice, pour 
the water from it, in which it has been soaked, and with 
a tablespoon shake the rice gradually into the stew pan 
without stirring it ; let it boil ten minutes, then strain 
the liquid from the rice ; return the rice to the stew pan, 
and let it steam fifteen or twenty minutes, a short dis- 
tance from the fire, it will then be done, and the grains 
will be separate ; add a little butter, and send it to the 
table. 

In graver cases, it should be prepared as follows : — 
Wash it well, then parch it brown or black like coffee, 
and while a pot of water, with a handful of salt in it, is 
boiling, sprinkle in the rice, bad grains being removed, 
and let it boil twelve minutes by the watch, stirring it 
all the time ; pour off the water, cover up the vessel, 
place it a little distance from the fire, and when cool 
enough, eat it with a little butter or sugar. 



294 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

14. Mulled Wine. — Pour half a pint of boiling water 
on a dozen bruised cloves, a quarter of an ounce of 
bruised cinnamon, and half a nutmeg grated ; let it stand 
an hour, strain, and add a full teaspoon of sugar ; then 
pour this into a pint of hot sherry or port wine. 

15. Gum Arabic Water. — Dissolve two or three table- 
spoons of the gum in a pint of water. 

16. Rice water is made like barley water. 

17. Oatmeal, or Water Gruel. — Oatmeal two table- 
spoonfuls, water one quart. Mix well, and boil for 
fifteen minutes, stirring it often. Strain through a sieve, 
and add sugar and salt to make it agreeable. 

18. Sago. — Sago one tablespoonful, water one pint. 
Boil them gently, stirring often till the mixture is smooth 
and thick, then add sugar. When proper a little wine 
and grated nutmeg may be added. 

19. Arrow Root and Tapioca. — Prepare like sago. 

20. Oyster Broth. — Cut into small pieces one or two 
dozen oysters, and boil them with their liquor in a pint 
of water for ten minutes, adding a little salt. This 
forms a very pleasant and sufficiently nourishing drink 
in the convalescence from many diseases. 

21. Egg Soup. — The yolk of one or two eggs, butter 
the size of a walnut, sugar to suit the taste, water one 
pint. Beat up the yolk with the water, and then add 
the butter and sugar. Stir it all the time it is on the 
fire, and when it begins to boil pour it between the 
saucepan and mug till well frothed, when it is ready for 
use. 

22. Chicken Water. — Half a chicken, the fat removed 
and bones broken, water two quarts. Boil for twenty 
or thirty minutes, and add a little salt. When a very 
nourishing article is required, add a tablespoonful of 



PREPARATIONS, RECIPES, ETC. 295 

rice, and boil very slowly for two hours, skimming off 
all the fat. 

23. Beef Tea. — Lean beef cut into small pieces, one 
pound, water one quart. Boil for twenty minutes, re- 
moving the skum as it rises. When cold, strain, and 
add a little salt. 

24. Foot Bath. — Add four ounces of nitric acid to four 
of muriatic acid in a glass bottle or vessel ; to this add 
eight ounces of water, that is, half a pint ; of this solution 
take from three to five ounces, measured in a glass or 
wcoden measure, and put it in three gallons of water as 
much as ninety-six degrees of heat ; this must be in a 
wooden vessel, and narrow enough to make the water 
come well up to the knees. Put the feet in at bed time 
for half an hour ; if it does not cause a prickling feeling 
in the feet, add more of the acid mixture next night. At 
the end of the half hour, have the feet and legs wiped 
dry, and then hold the feet to the fire until the heels and 
between the toes are perfectly dried, get into bed and 
have a bottle two-thirds full of hot water to each foot. 
The bottles should be well corked and rolled up in a 
piece of flannel, diagonally with the covers of the flan- 
nel turned in so as to be an additional protection to 
preventing the corks from coming out. Warm bricks 
or irons are objectionable as being liable to set the bed- 
ding on fire. 

25. Shower Baths, Cold Baths, &c. — The best bath is 
a plunge in a running stream; next to that, is a towel 
bath, to be described. Shower baths are too powerful for 
consumptive persons, and those who are not consump- 
tive do not need them. I know very well, that at this 
time there is a great rage for baths and bathing, and it 



296 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

may be well enough, for those who have these varied 
fixtures to sell, and for those who are rich enough to 
buy, and in a month or two to throw one away, and get 
a newer and better patent ; this promotes trade, en- 
courages industry and wit, and circulates money ; but 
there is a species of cruelty, of great inconsideration and 
want of sympathy, in endeavoring to make that essen- 
tial to good health, which is not only not essential, but 
by its expensiveness is utterly beyond the reach of half 
the population, and perhaps three-fourths of it. That is 
best, which, in addition to its answering all essential 
purposes, can be placed within the easy reach of the 
humblest day-laborer, or failing needle-woman. Hence 
I propose, for the benefit of many a reader whom I may 
never see, but whom I have some desire to compensate 
for the trouble of jeading these pages, a substitute 
which has been recommended by Sir Astley Cooper, 
one of the most renowned surgeons and physicians of 
his time. 

"Immediately on rising from bed, having all pre- 
viously ready, take off your night dress, dip your towel 
in a basin of water, quite wet, but not dripping ; begin 
at your head, rubbing hair, face, neck and ears, well ; 
then rub yourself, behind and before, from neck to 
heels, reaching every portion of the body. Wring out 
the towel, charge it afresh with water, and repeat all, 
except as to the head, unless that be in a v heated state, 
when you may do so with advantage. Three minutes 
will now have elapsed. Then take a long coarse towel, 
and scrub your head, face, and body at every point, and 
four minutes will put you in a glow. Next, wash and 
hard rub your feet, brush your hair, and complete your 



PREPARATIONS, RECIPES, ETC. 297 

toilette ; and trust me, this will give a new zest to your 
existence. A mile of walking may be added with ad- 
vantage." 

Women and those who are delicate, and very easily 
chilled, may modify this, as described in the following 
language of a lady to a lady. 

26. A Ladyh Bath. — "You only want a basin of 
water, a towel, a rag, and five minutes' time. When 
you get up in the morning, pin a petticoat very loosely 
at the waist, draw your arms out of the sleeves of your 
chemise, and let it drop to your waist. Take your rag, 
well wetted, and slap your head and shoulders, rub your 
arms and chest, and throw handfuls of water around 
your ears and back of the neck. Then throw your towel 
across your back and ' saw' it dry. Rub fast, until 
you are quite dry. Put on your chemise sleeves, draw 
on a night gown to keep from chilling, while you tuck 
your skirts up under one arm, until you wash and dry 
one limb ; drop that side and do the other likewise, and 
be sure that the small of the back and the sides get their 
full share of rubbing. This done, sit down, dip one foot 
in the basin, rub and dry it, put on your stocking and 
shoe, and then wash the other." 

Baths like these are easily performed, cost nothing, 
and are practicable wherever there is a towel and a pint 
of cold water ; effectually taking away any ground of 
excuse for not attending to them, and leaving no 
obstacle to their general employment when needed. It 
is my opinion, founded on observation, that a daily bath, 
to a man in health, is not advisable, for he deprives him- 
self of a valuable prophylactic should he get sick. A 
man who is well, should let himself alone. 
13* 



298 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

27. The Feet. — The Author hopes to save himself 
much trouble, by naming here the kind of shoes all his 
patients should have, who at all suffer from damp feet. 
The upper leather of a shoe is not so easily made wet, 
and is easily dried, but the soles are soon penetrated, 
and become of a soaking dampness, and there are objec- 
tions to India-rubber shoes. When }^ou order a boot or 
shoe made, have pieces of canvas cut of a proper shape, 
dip them in melted tar or pitch, and let one be laid be- 
tween the upper and under sole ; this will effectually 
prevent dampness from striking into the foot, a thing 
which so often gives sore throat, colds, and death. 

28. Enema.- — A tablespoonful of salt to a pint of 
water or gruel ; neither should be cold nor warm, but a 
little cool, say sixty degrees Fahrenheit. Retain it if 
you can, a few minutes. Repeat in half an hour if not 
efficient, five or ten degrees colder. 

EFFECTS OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 

It is often stated as disparaging to physicians, that, 
notwithstanding the general increase of knowledge in 
all departments, and the claim that medicine is reduced 
almost to a science, human life is gradually shorten- 
ing. There is great reason why men should not live 
so long as formerly. As a nation, we live more luxu- 
riously ; our habits of eating and sleeping have become 
more artificial, more irregular. Large numbers of peo- 
ple have no regular occupation. Our young women are 
trained in female boarding-schools, which, with some ex- 
ceptions, are academies of mental, moral, and physical 
depravation ; where novel reading in secret, and a smat- 
tering of everything in public, with a thorough practical 
knowledge of nothing, is the order of the day. From 



EFFECTS OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 299 

graduation to marriage, nothing is' done to establish the 
constitution, to make firm the health — no instructions 
given as to how that health may be preserved, no active 
teaching as to household duties, no invigorating morn- 
ing walks, no wholesome, elegant, and graceful exercises 
on horseback. The days are spent in eating, in easy 
lounging, in ceremonial visiting, in luxurious dreami- 
ness over sentimental fictions; the nights in heated 
rooms or crowded assemblies of hot and poisoned, if not 
putrid air. No wonder that with educations like these, 
the girls of our cities and larger towns fade away into 
the grave long before they reach the maturity of woman- 
hood. 

Our young men also, in cities and large towns espe- 
cially, grow up in too many instances without any 
stamina of constitution. Bad practices — drinking, chew- 
ing, smoking, theatre going, secret society gatherings — 
involving late hours, late suppers, late exposures, pri- 
vate indulgences — these destroy the health, deprave the 
morals, and waste the energies of the whole man. Many 
are permitted to grow up without any trade, trusting to 
a wealthy parentage, or political influence, or the name 
of a profession, intended only for show and not for 
practical life. Others become clerks in stores, banks, 
offices, with good salaries it may be ; but when the mer- 
chant has become a bankrupt, the offices failed, the banks 
broken, the party in power defeated, their occupation is 
gone, their resources are exhausted; they lounge about 
waiting for a place, the clothes are wearing out, the board 
bill is in arrears, independence lost, spirits broken, mind 
irritated, disposition soured, and the first crime is com- 
mitted — that of engaging board without any certain 
means of paying, or leaving a struggling widow in 



300 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

arrears ; — the proud, the high-minded, the well-dressed, 
courteous, and cheerful-faced young man of six months 
ago has made his first step towards degradation, by 
making a toiling woman give him for nothing the bread 
and meat which she had earned in toil and sweat, and 
tears perhaps, and which the children of her own bosom 
needed. When the honor is lost, low habits and loss of 
health and life soon follow. Let every young man from 
the country hesitate to come to the city to try his for- 
tune, unless he has learned well an honest and substan- 
tial trade ; then he may work his way sternly and 
steadily to usefulness, influence, and wealth. It is for 
want of a suitable education and occupation that such 
numbers of the young go down to a premature, if not 
dishonored, grave. But notwithstanding these errors as 
to the education and employment of our young men and 
young women, medical writers have been extensively 
disseminating useful knowledge by means of books, 
pamphlets, lectures, newspaper articles and the like, in 
reference to the preservation of health in the nursery, 
the school-house, the academy, the college — in factories, 
work-houses, penitentiaries, as to diet, exercise, ventila- 
tion, drains, sewerage, house-building; and the general 
result is, that, within three hundred years past, the aver- 
age length of human life has been increasing, and not 
diminishing. The average age increased two and a half 
years for the twenty years ending 1820 in the United 
States. For the fifty years ending in 1831 in France, it 
increased from 28-J years to 31^-, notwithstanding the 
devastations of the wars of Napoleon and the French 
Revolution. In London, for the century ending 1828, 
the average age of all who died had increased 4f years 



EFFECTS OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. 301 

In Geneva, three hundred years ago, it was 21 years ; it 
is now 41. 

Europe is computed to have a population of two hun- 
dred and thirty millions. Not a. hundred years ago, 
Gibbon, the great historian, estimated it at less than one- 
half. This immense increase has taken place notwith- 
standing the millions who have emigrated to this and 
other countries — notwithstanding, too, the far greater 
drawback, that during a considerable portion of the time 
the most desolating wars were waged that were ever 
carried on there. This can only be accounted for by the 
reforms which medical science has introduced, and the 
more general diffusion of practical knowledge as to the 
preservation and promotion of health, in publications 
made by eminent physicians and surgeons. 

As therefore a higher degree of medical intelligence 
has extended the average of human life — in some places 
fifty per cent., taking all disease together — it is reason- 
able to suppose that increased intelligence as to one 
class of diseases would, in the course of time, have a 
like happy effect ; that if more truthful views as to the 
nature, causes, and symptoms of diseases of the lungs, 
were extensively promulgated among the people, their 
fearful ravages would be diminished in corresponding 
proportion. 

In 1851, the deaths in Boston, from Consumption 
alone, were about thirty per cent, of the entire mortality, 
and the Medical Association announces that it "is 
steadily on the increase from year to year." If this is 
the case in Boston, where such large quantities of cod- 
liver oil have been purely made, and hence more easily 
and cheaply obtained, it presents a striking and prac- 
tical contradiction of its curative powers in Consump* 



302 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tion, and calls upon us in louder and louder tones to 
look less to the cure of this terrible scourge, and more 
to the detection of its early symptoms and its preven- 
tion, by scattering intelligence to every family, and on 
the wings of every wind, as to what are its causes and 
what these early symptoms are. Such is the object of 
this publication. 

PATENT MEDICINES 

are those whose contents are not made known. A phy- 
sician who has any respect for himself would scarcely 
use them, or advise their use. It is a universal custom 
among all honorable practitioners, to communicate to 
their brethren any valuable discovery ; thus, any one of 
them is benefited by the discoveries of all the others ; 
they hold their knowledge in common. A remedy dis- 
covered to be truly valuable in New York to-day, in the 
cure of any disease whatever, is, in a few months, known 
wherever the English language is read and spoken. 
Thus thousands, scattered over the world, whom the dis- 
coverer never could see, are benefited and blessed by 
his discovery, through the regular practitioner. Some 
other person obtains this knowledge, prepares the ingre- 
dients, disguises them with some inert substance, and 
sells it as a secret remedy, leaving those to die, as far 
as he cares, who do not buy from him or his agents ; 
while thousands of others, in other states and countries, 
perish for the want " of a knowledge locked up in his 
bosom. Any patent medicine is a cure for a given 
disease, or it is not. If it is not a cure, it is false and 
criminal to sell it as a cure. If, on the other hand, it is 
what it professes to be, it cannot be much better than 
murder to withhold it from those who cannot purchase 
it. and to allow thousands, at a distance, to die from 



PATENT MEDICINES. 303 

the want of it, who never heard of it, or if they did, 
live too far away to send for it in time. Let those who 
purchase these articles think of the argument, and aid 
and abet no more, by their patronage, those who allow 
their fellow-creatures to die by thousands every year, 
who would be saved (if what is said be true) by the 
knowledge of the remedy whose composition is so care- 
fully conceajed. 

Many things have been passed over in the foregoing 
pages, which might satisfy the curiosity or interest a 
large class of readers, but it is not necessary that they 
should be known, and if known, might have an injurious 
effect, considering the present state of knowledge on the 
subject of consumptive disease ; such, for example, as 
stating what symptoms are infallibly fatal, what kind 
of persons, as to sex, temperament, color of hair, eyes, 
skin, make of body, are most liable to it, or having it, 
have less hope of recovery. For similar reasons I have 
given but few fatal cases and their symptoms ; for per- 
sons having one or more of these same symptoms might 
conclude that they too must die, when those same symp- 
toms, in combination with others, would indicate a very 
different result. I do not wish the reader to suppose 
that I do not lose any cases — that few or none die in 
my hands. I lose patients as other physicians do. I 
have lost some whom I expected would recover. Nor 
do I wish to make the impression, that it is a frequent 
occurrence that persons in the advanced stages of Con- 
sumption are restored to comparative health ; for it is 
not a frequent occurrence — it is a rare thing. My 
object is, first, to show what the early symptoms are ; 
and, second, to induce the reader to make early appli- 
cation to his physician, with the full assurance of my 



304 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

belief, that thus one person would not die of disease 
of the throat or lungs where one hundred now do. In 
truth, I had greatly rather that persons in the advanced 
stages would not apply to me : for it at once involves a 
degree of responsibility and solicitude, which is to extend 
through weeks and months, and for which any money 
paid is not the shadow of a remuneration. 

I greatly desire it to be understood that I have no 
magical means of cure. Ailments of the throat and 
lungs are not to be removed by a box of pills or a bottle 
of balsam. It is not the work of a day, nor a week. 
These cases often require weeks and months of treat- 
ment, and of a treatment constantly varying, to meet 
the varying phases of the disease. Sometimes it occurs, 
but not often, that a person writes for advice in full, and 
it is given, and the single prescription, persevered in, 
has effected a happy cure, and months and years after, 
such persons have come to see me, to express their 
gratification. At other times, prescriptions are sent, and 
the persons are never heard of afterwards. In nearly 
all cas'es, these are young people, or such as have no 
energy of character, no perseverance, no determination. 
For a few days or a fortnight they give a general atten- 
tion to the directions, and because they are not cured, 
break off and apply to some other physician, to follow 
the same course, or become negligent of themselves, 
and eventually die. It is a most hopeless task to 
attempt to cure any of Throat Ail or Consumption who 
have no energy of character. It is time, and trouble, 
and money lost, as they are not diseases to be eradicated 
in a day, by a drop or a pill.*- It is to be accomplished, 
if at all, by a determined, thorough, and persevering 
attention, for weeks, and sometimes many months, to 



RESPIRATION. 305 

rational means, (j^lT 3 calculated to build up the constitu- 
tion, with a decreasing use of medicine, and an increasing 
attention to habits of life. 

RESPIRATION 

consists in two operations of the lungs ; inspiration, by 
which the lungs are filled with air, and expiration, by 
which they are emptied. 

In health, inspiration requires a longer time than ex- 
piration, the reverse of this is an indication of consump- 
tive disease — the expiration being too long, the aorta 
is pressed too much and too long, and the circulation is 
increased in rapidity, hence another sign of consumption 
is a pulse permanently faster than the average, which is 
seventy beats in a minute while at rest. 

The expiration being too long, the inspiration is too 
short, consequently enough air is not taken into the lungs 
for the wants of the system, the blood therefore not having 
enough air to purify it perfectly, becomes thick and flows 
sluggishly, does not carry as much fresh life to different 
parts of the body as it ought to, does not nourish any 
portion as it should do, hence there is general wasting 
away, the most universal and essential sign of consump- 
tion, very appropriately designated by the populai 
epithet, "a decline." 

The blood being thick, it becomes packed up, congested 
in the lungs, throws out an unnaturally thick mucus 
among the air-cells, which, filling them up to some ex- 
tent, prevents the air from getting in, for in proportion 
as a cell is filled up with mucus, there is no room for 
air, and this want of air produces what consumptives 
always complain of, especially in exerting themselves, 



806 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

even to walk fast, or go up a pair of stairs, that is. want 
of breath, shortness of breath. 

When this accumulation of mucus reaches a ceiuain 
point, a tickling sensation is produced, this in turn causes 
cough, which is nothing more than a spasmodic effort of 
nature to relieve herself; at first little or nothing is 
brought up, not perceptibly thicker than common spittle, 
but after a while, it is thicker and even more copious, 
comes up freer because it exists in larger quantities ; the 
more freely it comes up though not yellow, the more 
decided the relief, and there is no more cough until there 
is another accumulation. At first these accumulations 
only excite cough once in twenty-four hours, in the vast 
majority of instances coming on, on getting out of bed 
in the mornings ; in due time the intervals are less dis- 
tant, and a spell of coughing comes on at bed time, 
after a while another at midnight, until at length there 
is but a few minutes interval or cessation night or day, 
and wearied, wasted, and exhausted, the wretched pa- 
tient finds relief only in the grave. 

The tickling which excites the cough is referred to the 
top of the breast bone, the little depression at the bot- 
tom of the neck in front, and persons please themselves 
by calling it Bronchitis or some other name, persuading 
themselves that as it is at the bottom of the windpipe, 
the lungs cannot be effected ; this is a pleasing but often 
a fatal deception. The point of sensation is not always 
the point of ailment. You strike your elbow but feel it 
at the ends of the fingers. 

The real reason why the tickling is felt at the bottom 
of the windpipe is, that its own natural supply of mucus 
is always there, and it does not feel it, nor does it feel 
it if there is a little more than a natural supply — but we 



RESPIRATION. 



307 



have just seen that there is more than a natural supply 
of mucus in all parts of the lungs, and this extra amount 
is forced along the smaller branches of the windpipe by 
the air in expiration, and then the whole extra supply of 
mucus from the entire lungs is deposited at that one 
point, the little depression where all the branches of the 
windpipe meet and unite to make one ; this collection 
being so much larger in quantity than is at all natural, 
tickling is produced, this excites what we call cough, 
which is a forcible expiration of a volume of air coming 
from the lungs towards the throat which carries all be- 
fore it, from the bottom of the windpipe to the top above 
Adam's apple, or the voice-making organs, there it pro- 
duces another sensation, which induces what we call 
hawking, this brings it still farther up to the tongue, 
there it produces another sensation different still, causing 
such an adjustment of the parts as throws it from the 
mouth, and it becomes no longer a part of us. Occa- 
sionally, however, the cough is so violent, or the mucus 
so plentiful, that the cough alone throws it at one opera- 
tion from the bottom of the windpipe clear out of the 
mouth. Sometimes a single hem or hawk brings it 
away, this is when it is very copious or an ulcer is formed 
at the upper part of the windpipe, both sometimes fatal 
signs, the former indicating the latter stages of consump- 
tion, the other that the windpipe is being rapidly broken 
down, and will soon be eaten through, and death is in- 
evitable when the expectoration is pure matter. 

Stokes gives a case, pulse 144; respiration 17; and 
another pulse 65 ; respiration 50, for the last month of 
his life ; both died, and post mortem indicated extensive 
lung decay from phthisis, showing that in all cases of con- 
sumption, the pulse and respiration are not both neces- 



308 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

sarily accelerated, but this is the general rule, and the 
exception, is an extraordinary acceleration of one and 
slowness of the other. (See page 350, of Stokes on the 
Chest, Phil. 1844, edition.) In this statement is a strong 
proof that additional aid is needed in determining the 
existence of consumption, and that aid spirometry gives 
in determining with numerical and unerring precision 
what amount of lungs is in operation. It may result 
from decay, from filling up with mucus, or from feeble 
action, but the effect on the general system is the same 
as to the imperfect purification of the blood. 

AN INQUIRY 

may have often occurred to the thinking reader why a 
cold should settle 

In the head, and give one man catarrh in the head : 
In the larynx, and give a second throat-ail : 
In the windpipe, and give a third croup : 
In the branches of the windpipe, and give a fourth 
bronchitis : 

In the lungs, which are the air cells at the ends of the 
branches of the windpipe, giving consumption in a fifth : 
Every man has some weak spot in the body as well 
as in the head. Not so naturally, but made so by his 
own conduct, and whenever disease invades the human 
frame it fastens on that weak, undefended part. The 
clergyman or singer, or public speaker, makes his throat 
weak by improper use of the voice. The sedentary 
man makes his lungs weak by want of exercise, by 
stifling them in warm rooms, and by depriving them for 
perhaps twenty hours out of the twenty-four, of their 
natural stimulus and food, pure, cool, out door air. 
Wherever a part of the body becomes weakened, the 



DANGER OF CUTTING TONSILS. 309 

small blood vessels of that part take their share of the 
weakness and lose their power of transmitting the 
blood, it thus accumulates, dams up, distends the vessels, 
stagnates, becomes impure, exudes, and there is conges- 
tion or dogging up in the veins or inflammation in the 
arteries, which is heat, redness, swelling, pain, and the 
part is thoroughly diseased. 

DANGER OF CUTTING TONSILS. 

M. Landouville removed an enlarged tonsi] for a woman, 
aged 21. In eight days she had uncontrollable spitting 
of blood, which was constant, besides vomiting a large 
quantity. Small pulse : extremities cold. The danger 
was imminent. Various means had already been adopted 
in vain : such as ice externally, styptics internally ; then 
pressure with lint dipped in lemon juice ; but it was at 
length controlled by pressing ice against the spot with for- 
ceps. (See Hays' Med. Jour., October, 1851.) Other 
cases are given in medical publications : they are not of 
frequent occurrence, but each one operated upon is liable 
to experience disagreeable results. An operation is 
seldom necessary, not one case in a dozen. And as in 
the case above, the danger was not over for a week after 
the operation had been performed, others, who have the 
tonsils taken out, have cause foi a lengthened and most 
unpleasant suspense. 

In young children the tonsils are sometimes swollen 
so much as to nearly meet, and materially affect the 
voice and impede the breathing ; but even in such cases 
I prefer using safer and milder means, which if perse- 
vered in seldom if ever fail. He who cuts skilfully and 
cures, does well ; but he does better who cures without 



310 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

cutting at all, and thus lets the patient go from his hands 
as perfect as when he came. 

RELAPSES. 

Persons under treatment are sometimes doing re- 
markably well, when suddenly the progress of the cure 
is arrested, and they often die, not from the want of 
skill in the physician, not because the means advised are 
insufficient to keep up a continued improvement, but 
from the inattention or want of consideration on the part 
of the patient or attendants. It may be useful to give a 
few illustrations of the manner in which relapses are 
sometimes brought about. 

A gentleman from Kentucky called upon me, appa- 
rently in the advanced stages of consumption. 

Pulse. Breathing. "Weight. Lungs held 
May 18, 100 20 128 3i pints of air. 
Nov. 3, 80 16 136 4J " " " « 

For near eighteen months afterwards he was engaged 
in active business, reporting himself by letter every few 
months as doing well, not requiring any medicine what- 
ever. Near two years after he first saw me, he became 
" chilled through and through frequently," by riding in 
the cold damp winds of February, attending to son e 
urgent business ; this gave him a terrible cold, which fell 
on his throat, and gave him horrible pains to swallow 
any thing. I wrote to him he must soon die, and he did 
so. It is a standing direction given to all my patients 
in print, not to ride on horseback in cold weather, espe- 
cially in damp piercing winds, and yet in the face of 
this, regardless of his delicate constitution, a course of 
conduct was pursued repeatedly which was sufficient to 



RELAPSES. SI i 

have endangered the health of the most robust. May 
this incident warn every reader. 

A lady sent for me two years ago. She was supposed 
to have consumption, had been confined to her bed for 
some weeks. She was propped up with pillows, pale 
and emaciated. Her case had been abandoned. She 
expectorated large quantities, drenching night-sweats, 
and a cough so incessant, as not to allow sleep day or 
night, except for short intervals, and so exhausting that 
she expressed herself as feeling often, that if she had to 
give another single cough, she would die. I did not con- 
sider it a case of consumption. At the end of two or 
three months she was able to come to my office, saying 
that she desired to visit some friends in a distant state. 
She did so with constantly improving health, but having 
occasion to return to New Orleans, she fell asleep in a 
steamboat berth, with the doors closed ; this being in 
summer time, she very naturally perspired freely, her 
clothing was almost damp ; a friend of hers chanced to 
open the state room door, and wishing to do her a kind- 
ness, opened .both doors and fastened them open to cool 
her ; this threw a strong draft of wind upon the sleeper, 
the perspiration was checked, and in a short time she 
waked up in a terrible chill, and the result was an eight 
months confinement to a sick chamber. She rallied how- 
ever, and so recently as four months since, was in the 
enjoyment of better health than she had known for some 
years. 

A young lady whom I have never seen, had been 
under my care for five months for a throat affection, 
combined with dyspepsia. At the end of that time, con- 
sidering herself " about well," she wrote for her bill. In 
a few days I received another letter detailing alarming 



312 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES: 

symptoms, of a more critical nature and different from 
the others. She had, while " unwell," taken a long 
walk at sundown of a chilly day in November, causing 
some perspiration ; in this condition she sat a consider- 
able time in a cold room, in which there had been no 
fire, conversing with a female friend whom she was visit- 
ing. Within an hour she had a chill, with immediate 
and complete suppression, followed with pleuritis, and a 
long confinement. To-day, however, I have received a 
letter from her, stating that she believes herself well, 
and that she " will be more careful for the future." 

A lady applied to me, having severe cough, yellow 
expectoration in large quantities, sore throat, pains in 
the breast, sides and pit of stomach, entire suppression 
for months. Every thing she ate gave her pain, often 
exciting cough, bringing it all up. Burning hands, cold 
feet, great depression of spirits ; had been confined to one 
room for six months. Friends as usual prognosticated 
she was dying of consumption, and approached her with 
the same tell-tale expression of countenance. But they 
had been doing this for a year or more, and still she did 
not die, reprieves were granted to spring, then to fall, and 
then to winter. I thought she was suffering from a form 
of dyspepsia, and treated her accordingly, JJ^° as the 
only means of relieving the throat, the cough and pains 
in the chest. In two months, she was able in the month 
of December to walk daily for hours together out of 
doors, " and felt the better for it," and was evidently 
getting well, when she visited some friends at a distance. 
By some misunderstanding, after riding sometime in a 
warm rail-car, she was left with her husband at a sta- 
tion-house in a cold damp day in winter, and remained 
there two hours, which was very naturally followed by 



RELAPSES. 313 

a cold, causing a return of suppressions and other un- 
pleasant symptoms ; in the course of a month, however, 
these things passed away, and she is doing well. 

A lady, (1014) aged 21, married eight months before, 
complained most of 

Cough on retiring and rising, besides severe spells of 
coughing in the day time. 

Very easily tired in walking. 

Pain at the point of right shoulder-blade behind, coming 
through. 

She had fallen away twenty pounds within six months. 

Dryness and irritation at the throat at times. 

Expectorated yellow matter now and then. 

Had been troubled with night sweats. 

She had been troubled with cough for three or four 
falls before, which would last about two months, but 
when the weather became -settled cold it passed away, 
and she was well as ever. Some three months before she 
applied to me, she took a walk about sun-down in June, 
became heated and tired, and before she reached home 
became chilled, cough came on, and with other symp- 
toms grew apace until they were as above described. 

I informed her in writing, that " with proper attention 
and without accident, good health might be reasonably 
calculated upon." 

For more than a month this patient steadily gained in 
health and strength, and I calculated upon her recovery. 
But soon after, she was attacked with chills and fevers, 
all her symptoms returned, and she died in three months 
after I first saw her. She had visited some friends at a 
distance, and rode home on horseback. When she 
reached the house after sun-down, she was wearied and 
14 



314 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

chilled, and in addition went into a room where there 
was no fire, with the results as above. 

A lady (997) whose mother was asthmatic, complained 
of cough, pains in the breast, night sweats, great acidity 
of stomach, even cold water produced sourness ; obsti- 
nate constipation, feet steadily cold, distressing thirst. 

My opinion was that her lungs were weak, were tuber- 
culated, but that they were not in a- state of decay ; that 
the prominent feature of her case was not consumptive 
disease, and that she might regain her health. 

In about two months she was safely confined ; the 
child and mother did well ; she left her bed in two weeks, 
gained in flesh, and I had no fears of her restoration. 
Soon after, the child met with a physical accident, and in 
the course of ten days died in convulsions. During its 
sickness, she would get up several times of a night in 
the cold winter of 1851-2, and walk the floor in her 
night dress, without any shoes on, and I think without 
stockings, but of this I am not certain. But getting out 
of a warm bed, walking the floor of a winter night with 
the child in her arms, in her loose night clothes, and this 
repeated once or more before day-light, and continued 
for several nights, getting more or less chilled on each 
occasion, naturally had the effect to close the pores of 
the skin, checking that insensible perspiration which is 
always present when in bed, and falling with all its force 
upon some internal organ. In this case it fell on the 
liver with the following prominent symptoms : 

An unquenchable thirst. 

Abhorrence 'of food. 

Yellowness of face and eyes. 

Distressing cough night and day. 

A pain about the edge of the ribs on the right side, 



RELAPSES. 315 

exceedingly severe at any time, but when she would 
cough, almost insupportable. 

Steady pain also in the right shoulder. 

When she would turn on her left side there was such 
a dragging, uncomfortable sensation on the right, that she 
would be compelled to turn back. 

The symptoms at length abated, the obstinate consti- 
pation gave way, succeeded by several discharges daily 
of a very black character, of sufficient consistency to 
maintain the shape for the most part, leaving a distress- 
ing feeling of weakness in the abdomen. At length the 
appetite returned, the pain wholly disappeared, she was 
able to sit up and sew a little, the discharge from the 
bowels became almost natural, but astlpnatic symp- 
toms intervened, coming on usually in the after part of 
the day and passing off towards morning. She did not 
regain her strength, declined steadily in flesh, with oc- 
casional exceptions ; still she sat up a greater part of the 
day, the asthma becoming of the continued kind, made 
that position the most comfortable. On Monday morn- 
ing I was called urgently to see her. She was sitting up 
in her chair, head thrown back, her arms resting on the 
sides of the arm chair, the mouth open, the lips shrunken, 
pale and dark ; she could speak but a word or two at a 
time ; would call out suddenly for the doors to be opened ; 
nothing gave any special relief, and she died that night, 
and thus passed away in the prime of womanhood, L. O. 
T. one of the loveliest of her kind; of a character so 
beautiful, so pure, that it will be given to few in the 
course of a life time to meet its like. 

Exposures are sometimes unavoidable, and the wisest 
may commit gross indiscretions. The elder John Adams 
says, " I have heard that in the opinion of his own able 



316 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

physician, Dr. Franklin fell a sacrifice, not to the stone, 
but to having caught a violent cold by sitting for 
some hours at a window with the cold air blowing upon 
him." 

The reader will have no difficulty in tracing the im- 
mediate cause of death in each case given ; in every in- 
stance it was amply sufficient to have impaired the 
health of persons who were entirely well, and we there- 
fore cannot be surprised at its effects on the frail and 
feeble. I know that exposures are to some extent un- 
avoidable, and that the wisest are liable at times to fall 
into inexcusable indiscretions, still such things should be 
watched against. Persons often reply that they " could'nt 
help it ; thej^ere obliged to." I do not admit the va- 
lidity of any such excuses. Besides, were they ever so 
good, the necessity of a thing does not relieve it of dis- 
astrous consequences. Because there is a necessity for 
blowing up a house, to arrest a conflagration, that ne- 
cessity does not indemnify the owner. If a man has to 
jump overboard in mid ocean to escape from being 
burned up in a ship, that necessity does not make the 
leap less dangerous. Therefore, if the reader imagines, 
for it is only imagination, that he is "obliged to," 
that he "can't help" exposing himself, thus risking 
health and endangering life, he must remember that the 
necessity does not guarantee impunity any more than a 
man's being obliged to let his note go to protest will 
save him from discredit, although he had the best 
double reason in the world, he had not the money him- 
self, nor could he find any one who would confess its 
possession. 

I have thus sought at length to impress the mind of 
the reader with this little thine/, because I have too often 



SUN-SET. 317 

been pained to see my own attentions of many weeks' 
duration baffled by a " had to," or a " could'nt help it," 
and by which a patient who was " in sight of health," 
has gone down to the grave. 

On looking back at the incidents named, we would 
think that almost any one would have known better, 
but it is easy to be wise a day after the deed. The only 
safeguard is to act with our thoughts about us, to act 
deliberately and rationally, by habit. 

SUN-SET. 

Mention has twice been made of injuries received 
about this time of day. In proportion as the weather 
is warm, in such proportion is it unhealthy to be out at 
sun-set and sun-rise. The higher the thermometer rises 
above sixty degrees during the day, the more pernicious 
are the effects of being out of doors at sun-rise or sun- 
set, unless the person be in sufficient motion to be free 
from chilliness or fatigue. 

During the whole twenty -four hours, the hour includ- 
ing sun-rise and sun-set is the most pernicious to health, 
and more particularly so in Southern latitudes. The 
night air from nine at night until an hour before sun- 
rise in the morning, is comparatively innocuous. At 
the setting of the sun, there is a more or less chilly 
dampness in the air, and the malaria which the warm 
sun rarified during the day and carried upwards a half a 
mile or more, begins to cool, condense, and rest within 
five or ten feet of the surface, where it is breathed freely. 
In the mornings, the first rising of the sun causes it to 
ascend from the earth, slowly at first, when it is also 
breathed, and being taken in also upon a weak stomach, 
not having been fortified with food for twelve or four- 



318 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

teen hours, it has a still worse effect. From this cause 
arise most of the fever and agues, diarrhoeas, dysenteries, 
and bilious fevers of the Western and South Western 
States. 

If two simple precautions were observed, Fever and 
Ague, the great scourge of the west, would in twelve 
months be almost banished from the country. How 
many readers will take these precautions resolutely from 
April to November, and thus save money, health, 
and life ? 

1. Never leave the house until the regular breakfast 
has been taken, including a cup of some drink, almost 
hot. 

2. Leave off work time enough in the afternoon to be 
ready to sit down to supper half an hour before sun- 
set, and go out no more for the night, unless it be an 
hour or more after sundown. 

As to women and children, they should be in a room 
where a fire has been kindled and allowed to burn down 
half an hour before they get up, and take their breakfast 
before they go outside of the door. The same at sun- 
down in the hottest weather of summer, in the hottest 
portion of our country. By these means the Malaria, 
which is simply Bad Air arising from decaying vegeta- 
tion, or Miasm, which means polluting, and may be 
regarded as different words for the same things, although 
the latter more strictly means polluting emanations, by 
these means, I say, the Malaria is antagonized, if not de- 
stroyed, and the stomach and lungs are fortified against 
its influence on the blood, by the strength and additional 
excitement which eating gives. 

No medicine will prevent Fever and Ague, or any 
other disease, but that the course which I have named 



SUN-SET, ETC. 319 

will almost infallibly do so, under all circumstances. I 
fully believe. I know infallible is a strong word, but I 
employ it to express the strength of my conviction. I 
tested it in my own practice in 1836, in the hottest, most 
miasmatic part of the south, called by common consent 
the "natural grave-yard" from the fearful mortality 
among all classes of the various higher grades Of fever. 
I rode wherever called, in the hottest mid-day, in sun- 
shine and in storm, in those fuming suffocative sultry 
showers so common to the south, and at midnight. 
But on no account did I neglect for a single time the 
precautions I have named. In a whole season's practice 
I never missed a call, never missed a meal, never had a 
moment's sickness, and had a convenient purse at the 
end. A young gentleman, with a more robust constitu- 
tion, with far greater capabilities of endurance, was set- 
tled near me. While I was seated in a large room with 
a moderate fire after tea, he sat in ' the piazza, immedi- 
ately in front of which was a very large garden of the 
rarest flowers, and the most delicious fruits, and in front 
of that a stream of water. We often conversed toge- 
ther between the closed doors and windows, and from 
his description the air must have been delightfully cool 
and refreshing. He knew it was a test of theory, but 
felt willing to abide the issue, always concluding that 
the danger was on my side. The result was, that within 
two months he was attacked with fever, and remained 
ill until the fall of the year, when he was hardly able 
to ride ; he did not make a penny, and lived at my 
expense. 

As to the morning, the common sense of the people 
in the south has led them to a custom which is almost 
universal, especially is it observed among the Creole 



320 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

population, to take a cup of cream and hot coffee, with 
sugar, before they leave their beds, as regular as the morn- 
ing comes. All the southern steamboats have coffee 
and crackers on their table by sunrise every morning. 

This statement has been made at length, to impress 
upon the mind of my patients the necessity of 

Avoiding the out door air of the hour, including sun- 
rise and sun-set ; 

To take something warm on the stomach before going 
out of doors in the morning. If the person is not much 
of an invalid, a crust of cold bread, or a cracker or two, 
will be sufficient. 

What I have said is intimately connected with the 
general subject of consumptive disease, for it is no un- 
common thing for persons applying to me from the 
Western States, and evidently suffering from consump- 
tion, to attribute the foundation of their disease to fever 
and ague frequently repeated, or long continued. I know 
that medical writers have affirmed that fever and ague 
was rather a preventive of consumption ; and that a 
consumptive \*buld find benefit from settling in a fever 
and ague country. But it is simply not so. Those who 
have written thus have not lived for a length of time in 
the west and south-west, and their opinions have been 
formed from isolated cases, from insufficient data. I 
have lived in the midst of such a country for a quarter 
of a century and more, and speak from my own ob- 
servation and from that of persons who have applied 
to me since. Fever and ague, long continued, debil- 
itates the whole system, as they too well know who 
have had the misfortune to suffer from it ', and all medi- 
cal men know that protracted debility, from whatever 
cause, tends to consumptive disease. 



CURE OF DYSPEPSIA. 321 

It is on the same principle that dyspepsia lays the 
foundation for consumption in great numbers of people. 

Dyspepsia is simply difficult digestion, that is, the 
stomach is too weak to prepare a sufficient amount of 
juices to dissolve the food which is swallowed. These 
juices do not penetrate the food and turn it into a fluid 
mass, because that food is too hard in quality, or too 
much in quantity. If a number of pieces of ice and 
sugar, in small lumps, are put into a glass, and a small 
quantity of water is poured on them, a portion will be 
dissolved, part may be in a fluid shape, but there will be 
lumps unmelted ; or the sugar may be melted easily, 
but the ice not so much so, it still remains hard, and 
some lumps of sugar are unpenetrated. Thus it is with 
food, especially on a weak stomach. There is not enough 
stomach liquor to dissolve it all ; the whole mass is 
unliquified, is undigested, undissolved, and that is the 
meaning of indigestion, dyspepsia ; either the stomach 
is not able to turn out juices enough to dissolve what 
is in it, or the juice is not able to penetrate it by 
reason of its hardness of penetration by that particular 
fluid. 

The cure of dyspepsia then consists in 

1. Adapting the quantity of food to the quantity of 
the stomach (gastric) juices already prepared. 

2. Adapting the penetrability of the food to the 
capabilities of the juice. 

3. In giving tone to the stomach by constitutional rem- 
edies, by which the gastric juice shall be larger in quan- 
tity, and more powerful in quality. 

The things complained of by dyspeptics are numerous. 
Mr. Stephen H — , of Kentucky, writes March 2d, 1852 : 
" I have a bad taste in my mouth. It first comes 
14* 



322 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

in my throat, and then in my mouth. It makes me 
spit very much. I quit eating supper. That answered 
for a while, but not long. I then quit eating molasses, 
then meat, then milk, but all will not do. I am very 
hearty, never was more so. I never get up from the 
table satisfied ; always hungry. I weigh a hundred and 
forty-two pounds, which is more than I have for many 
years. I would like to know the cause, and what would 
prevent it. At first it would come on three or four 
times a day, but now six or seven times ; sometimes a 
pinch of salt will cure it for a while, sometimes a sip of 
spirits, but it always returns again." 

The above is a case of beginning dyspepsia, truthfully 
described, and if attended to properly, admits of an easy 
cure in a very few weeks ; if neglected, the patient will 
become more and more diseased, miserable, debilitated, 
and a bad cold, too long continued, settling on the lungs, 
will end in a permanent decline. 

The rule, is general, that dyspepsia, fever and ague, or 
any other ailment which causes protracted debility, lays 
the foundation for consumptive disease, not invariably, it 
is true, but in a vast number of cases. 

CONSUMPTION COMMUNICABLE. 

A truly contagious disease has one distinguishing cha- 
racteristic. It occurs but once in the same individual, 
such as measles and small-pox ; this latter terrible ma- 
lady, does not return even when artificially produced, 
which is done in two ways : 

By vaccination, that is, giving it to a person from the 
matter taken from a cow, the Latin name for which 
animal is vaccina. 

By inoculation, that is, by means of matter taken 



SMALL-POX, VACCINATION. 323 

from a person who has himself had the small-pox. But 
it is not necessary to have the matter taken from a cow; 
if it is taken from a person who was vaccinated, cow- 
pox is produced. 

There is a disease in the heels of horses called 
"grease" this will produce cow-pox in the cow, and in 
man also. 

The human system then has small-pox communicated 
to it in four ways. 

From a person having small-pox. 

From a cow having cow-pox. 

From a person having cow-pox. 

From a horse having the grease : 

And it occurs but once in the same individual. 

There are exceptions to this rule, as in measles. Now 
and then there does occur a case among many thousands 
where measles and even cow-pox may attack the sys- 
tem the second time. From the most patient and 
scrutinizing observations extended through many years, 
the following conclusions have been arrived at, which I 
the more readily insert from the good, I hope it may 
do, if the suggestions are attended to by parents. 

1. One single perfect vaccination does not always pro- 
tect the system against small-pox for life. 

2. Two vaccinations will. 

3. The system is not fully protected until it ceases to 
De affected by vacine influence. 

4. It is not safe to be exposed to small-pox in less 
than ten days after successful vaccination. 

5. Therefore it is safest and best to have a re-vacci- 
nation in seven years after the first, especially in 
children. 



324 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

6. By all means use the matter taken from a young 
child, who is otherwise healthy itself, and whose parents 
are known to have good health, inasmuch as cases have 
occurred where life-long and incurable diseases have been 
communicated by using vacine matter obtained from an 
unhealthy person. 

7. Obtain the matter from a physician in whom you 
have the most implicit confidence. 

Consumption is not communicated by any process of 
inoculation, and a person may have it several times in 
the course of his life. But when a man of apparent 
good health has the disease latent in his system in con- 
sequence of his kindred being consumptive or otherwise, 
intimate association with consumptive persons will bring 
the disease into fatal activity, hence the precaution of 
page 98. But a perfectly healthy man cannot by any 
ordinary association with a consumptive person, have 
the disease generated in his system. For if a disease 
were both hereditary and contagious in the full sense of 
the word, it would soon depopulate the world. 

HEALTH OF CHILDREN. 

Many children are born scrofulous, many born tuber- 
culated, consumptive. Scrofula is a general, consump- 
tion a special term, being scrofula of the lungs. But 
although children may be born scrofulous in general, 
and consumptive in particular, they need not necessarily 
die short of the usual age of man. A suitable parental 
training at home, a wisely conducted education, and a 
calling adapted to their constitution would in the vast 
majority of cases, add to the present average length of 
life. This subject would of itself make a book, yet 
parents would not read it ; and of one in a hundred who 



HEALTH OF CHILDREN. 825 

did, not one in a thousand perhaps would use any sys- 
tematic effort to carry out practical suggestions, although 
one would suppose that the health of a child would be 
inexpressibly dear to a parent's heart. But unfortunately 
it is not the fashion of the times to study the physical 
well being of the child. The first great object of the 
masses, is to leave their children rich, or at least that 
they may be " well to do" in the world ; with a few, it 
is the first concern to imbue the minds of their offspring 
from earliest years, with the principles and practices of 
our holy religion, others again spend large sums of money 
to perfect a favorite accomplishment ; but it would be a 
rare thing indeed to find a parent devoting even any con- 
siderable portion of his attention to the subject of secur- 
ing to his child a healthful body, and a sound, robust 
constitution. And yet all ought to know, and every 
one who has been seriously ill from acute disease, or 
who has been an invalid from a chronic ailment, does 
know that without health, position, accomplishments, 
wealth become unenjoyable, if not burdensome, and 
even around religion itself, it but too often throws a doubt 
and gloom and morbid feeling, which only add to the 
depression of the unhappy individual. 

An observant clergyman remarked, "I should be 
puzzled to find one healthy woman in my' whole parish. 
I cannot think of one who has not something the matter 
with her. The best of them are at least subject to ner- 
vous or sick headaches, which unfit them often for duty 
or enjoyment." Within a week of this writing, one of 
the most eminent practitioners among the wealthy fami- 
lies of a neighboring city, under whose hands had died 
in her first confinement, a lady, brought up in luxurious 
ease and pleasure, who never had a desire ung ratified, 



326 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

who possessed all the advantages which wealth and 
family, and position could bestow, of so sweet a disposi- 
tion, so passive, so gentle, so quiet, that every body 
loved her who knew her ; who had just taken possession 
of an elegantly appointed mansion, with her kindred 
around her, all in high prosperity ; few ever entered life 
with so clear a sunshine, with so bright a sky, and yet 
within a week of apparent perfect health, she died, from 
a want of stamina of constitution sufficient to meet the 
requisitions of maternity ; and in connection with similar 
cases recently occurring, this gentleman replied to the 
inquiry of an acute and observant lady, " Doctor, what 
ails all the girls ?" 

" Madam, there is not a girl in this city fit to be mar- 
ried." 

PRECOCIOUS CHILDREN, 

those who are spoken of as being " too smart for any- 
thing" seldom live long. They are scrofulous, and if 
they do not die in childhood of " water on the brain" 
seldom reach adult life, and either peris"h long before 
their prime, or disappoint the high expectations formed 
of them, and live along below the average intellect of 
their age, as is well illustrated in an anonymous para- 
graph. " Having watched the growth of the young 
mind a good deal, we are less and less in love with pre- 
cocity, which, indeed, is often mere manifestation of dis- 
ease, the disease of a very fine, but weak nervous organ- 
ization. Your young Rosciuses, and all your wonders 
of that kind, generally end in the feeblest of common- 
place. There is no law, however, precise and absolute 
in the matter. The difference of age at which men 
attain maturity of intellect, and even of imagination, is 
very striking. The tumultuous heat of youth has cer- 



PRECOCIOUS CHILDREN. 327 

tainly given birth to many of the noblest things in 
music, painting, and poetry ; but no less fine produc- 
tions have sprung from the ripeness of years. Chatter- 
ton wrote all his beautiful things, exhausted all hopes of 
life, and saw nothing better than death, at the age of 
eighteen. Burns and Byron died in their thirty-seventh 
year, and, doubtless, the strength of their genius was 
over. Raffaelie, after filling the world with divine 
beauty, perished also at thirty-seven ; Mozart earlier. 
These might have produced still greater works. On the 
other hand, Handel was forty-eight before he gave the 
world ' Assurance of a Man.' Dryden came up to Lon- 
don from the provinces dressed in Norwich drugget, 
somewhat above the age of thirty, and did not even 
then know that he could write a single line of poetry ; 
yet what towering vigor and swinging ease appeared all 
at once in ' Glorious John.' Milton had indeed written 
' Comas ' at twenty-eight ; but he was upwards of fifty 
when he began his great work. Cowper knew not his 
own might till he was far beyond thirty, and his ' Task ' 
was not written till about his fiftieth year. Sir Walter 
Scott was also upwards of thirty before he published 
his ' Minstrelsy,' and all his greatness was yet to come." 
The use to be made of these facts is, that the " brighter" 
children are, the less they should be allowed to study, 
for unusual "brightness" is presumptive evidence of 
a scrofulous constitution. The child should be allowed 
to be out of doors every hour possible — should be driven 
out of doors, rather than otherwise ; should not be sent 
to school before seven years of age, and even then should 
not be allowed to be confined to books or study of any 
kind longer than two hours at a time, twice a day, which 
may be gradually increased in the course of six or eight 



328 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

years to three full hours at a time, twice a day ; and 
no man under forty years of age, let alone a child, can 
study much longer, day after day, without certain injury to 
health. Above forty, when the constitutional and bodily 
vigor is matured, is established, men may study under 
suitable restrictions fifteen hours out of the twenty-four, 
without impairment of mental vigor. It is not thenum 
ber of hours allotted to study which is to form our esti 
mate of improvement, but the amount of mental activity. 
A man fresh to his morning work will perform, more 
labor in two hours than another will in six who has been 
working hard all day. And any child studying four or 
five hours in the twenty -four, and compelled to spend 
the remainder of daylight in active work, or play out 
of doors, will learn more by far in the course of five 
years, than one who is confined to his books seven or 
eight hours out of the twenty-four. In accordance with 
these sentiments are the following remarks of a scientific 
writer, and every parent should read them with the 
utmost attention ; because it is an unmistakable truth 
that, unless more attention is paid in the United States 
to the physical education of children, we will become an 
effeminate and ruined nation, for without robust physical 
health there can be no reliable greatness in politics, gov- 
ernment, or morals. Whatever comes from a sickly 
constitution must itself be sick. To this I know of no 
exception. Many a proud empire of ancient story has 
found its fall laid in the bodily effeminacy of its people : 

OVERTASKING THE BRAIN. 

" It is especially after the twelfth or fourteenth year 
that the progress of education is driven forward with a 
rapidity dangerous both to the mental and physical 



OVERTASKING THE BRAIN. 329 

health. It is the period when the deficiencies of child- 
hood are to be repaired, when competition excites the 
efforts of the youth and the envy of his friends, and the 
prospect is filled with pleasing hopes and ambitious 
schemes. If to these inducements we add another, more 
vulgar but not less common, that of obtaining the maxi- 
mum result from the given expenditure, we shall have 
the most usual reasons for this pernicious overstraining 
of the tender mind. Surpass, outshine — these are the 
potent words ever ringing in the ears of many an in- 
genuous youth; and if he break down in the race, the 
calamity is regarded as a mysterious visitation of Prov- 
idence, rather than a daring violation of a natural law. 

" Of late years, I have had but little opportunity of 
knowing how the higher class of schools is managed in 
this respact, but I have some reason to believe that 
there has been no essential change since the days of my 
own early experience. At one of the highest academies 
in New England, the age of the scholars ranging from 
ten to twenty, the school-time was eight hours, and two 
or three more hours of study out of school were requisite 
in order to accomplish the tasks with tolerable credit. 

" But it is in boarding-schools for girls obtaining the 
finishing touches of their education that this forcing pro- 
cess is carried to its extreme limits. A few years since, 
Dr. Forbes of London published the order of exercises 
in an English school, from which it appeared, that the 
girls spent in school, at studies or tasks, nine hours ; in 
school or in the house, the older at optional studies or 
work, the younger at play, three and a half hours ; in 
sleep, nine hours; at meals, one hour and a half; in ex- 
ercise in the open air, one hour. 

The daily routine of similar schools among ourselves, 



330 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

at the present time, is probably, with an occasional ex 
ception, of a very similar character. From such infor 
mation as I have been able to collect, I find that, generally, 
the time spent in study and recitations varies from eight 
to ten hours, seldom more than one hour being given to 
oodily exercise. In a very fashionable school in New 
York, the girls rise at a quarter past six, and study till 
breakfast, at eight ; from nine till three, with the inter- 
mission of half an hour, they are studying or reciting. 
At three they dine, and then, in pleasant weather, walk 
out for an hour, in a slow, quiet manner. In bad weather, 
they go into a narrow room in the basement, and keep 
themselves warm by jumping about, or hovering around 
a stove. The hour finished, they study till tea, at six ; 
and from that time till eight, the} 7 work, chat, or do 
what they please, all in one room. Then they study till 
prayers at nine, and then to bed, in large associated dor- 
mitories, one room seventy feet long containing, some- 
times, thirty-five beds. Many of the girls are said to 
become ' nervous.' 

'* In another, of a very different character in other re- 
spects, the amount of studying seems to be still greater. 
The girls rise at half past five ; put rooms in order ; 
breakfast ; study from seven till nine ; school from nine 
till twelve ; then dinner ; after which, relaxation till half 
past two, when school begins, and continues till five; 
walk in the open air, or calisthenics in-doors, till tea- 
time ; study from seven till nine ; prayers, and to bed 
at ten. 

" It will be observed, that the mischievous effects of 
such excessive mental exertion are not counteracted as 
far as they might be by bodily exercise. This seldom 
occupies more than an hour in the day, generally con* 



OVERTASKING THE BRAIN. 331 

sisting of a formal walk, without any end or object be- 
yond that of mere locomotion, and consequently but lit- 
tle calculated to refresh and invigorate the nervous sys- 
tem. Such exercise should be connected with some 
intellectual object, such as botany, mineralogy, or sketch- 
ing, otherwise it only adds bodily lassitude to mental 
weariness. 

"At what age precisely the mind enjoys its highest vi- 
gor, is capable of the greatest efforts and the greatest 
endurance, is a question that cannot be very definitely 
answered ; and yet it would seem as if some standard 
should be fixed upon whereby to graduate the degree of 
mental application at the different periods of life. Ex- 
amples are not rare of elderly scholars, especially in 
Germany, who are in the habit of devoting fourteen or 
fifteen hours in the day to hard study. A distinguished 
jurist, not long since deceased, in a neighboring State, 
was accustomed, for several years immediately preceding 
his death, which occurred after the age of seventy, to 
spend fourteen hours a day in severe study. No class 
of men, probably, perform so great an amount of intel- 
lectual labor as English or American judges, sitting in 
court, as they do, a great part of their time, ten or eleven 
hours in the day, with their minds constantly on the 
stretch, amid the disadvantages of badly warmed, badly 
ventilated apartments, and thence retiring to their rooms, 
perhaps, to investigate a question of law, or prepare a 
judgment. The most of these men are past the meridian 
of life. It is not quite certain, however, that such labors 
do not make serious drafts on the constitution. Instan- 
ces that seem to show a different result are probably 
exceptions to the general rule. There is much reason to 
believe that the development of mental power proceeds, 



332 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

by equal steps, with that of the body ; that it is precisely 
during that period when the physical powers are most 
mature, that the mind is capable of the most close and 
successful application. No one would think of looking 
for this period after the age of fifty ; and if any one, 
misled by the achievements of some youthful Hercules, 
supposes it to be on the younger side of twenty, a little- 
examination will convince him of his error. Power of 
physical endurance, of meeting that wear and tear of the 
vital forces that results from continuous and protracted 
activity, proceeds from a certain maturity of the bodily 
organization, and that strength which only habitual 
trial can generate. Before the age of twenty, this 
kind of maturity and strength is seldom witnessed, and 
experiments made upon a large scale, as in war and colo- 
nization, furnish abundant proof of this fact. During the 
last years of the French empire, when the conscriptions 
were frequently anticipated, in order to supply the fright- 
ful waste of life produced by its sanguinary wars, Napo- 
leon often complained that the young conscripts they 
sent him were fit only to encumber the hospitals and 
road-sides. During the period, then, varying not far 
from thirty on the one side and fifty on the other, the 
body enjoys its maximum of vigor and power of en- 
durance, and it is during this period that the history o. 
studious men leads us to believe that the mind displays 
corresponding attributes. The exact amount of labor 
which the mind may safely perform, of course, we never 
■can determine, both because the consequences of exces- 
sive application are not very clearly exhibited, and the 
circumstances accompanying it differ so widely in differ 
ent persons. The fact that many who have accomplished 
the most, and suffered the least, have rarely exceeded 



HOW TO REAR CHILDREN. 333 

seven or eight hours a day, would warrant the conclusion 
that this is very near the limit compatible vvith health 
and longevity. Such being the case, it follows of course 
that a much smaller amount of labor than this is suited 
to the earlier years of life. — Ray. 

" We do our nature wrong, 

Neglecting' over long 
The bodily joys which help to make us wise : 

The ramble up the slope 

Of the high mountain cope — 
The long day's romp — the vigorous exercise : 

The fresh luxurious bath, 

Far from the trodden path — 
Or 'mid the ocean waves, clashing with harmless roar, 
Lifting us off our feet upon the sandy shore." 

I here give a few of the principal rules to be observed 
in the rearing of children who are scrofulous, consump- 
tive, or " weakly." They 

1. Should not go to school until six years old. 

2. Should not learn at home during that time more 
than the alphabet, religious teachings excepted. 

3. Should be fed with plain substantial food, at regu 
lar intervals of not less than four hours. 

4. Should not be allowed to eat anything within two 
hours of bed-time. 

5. Should have nothing for supper but a single cup of 
warm drink, such as very weak tea of some kind, or 
cambrick tea, or warm milk and water, with one slice of 
cold bread and butter — nothing else. 

6. Should sleep in separate hair beds, without caps, 
feet first well warmed by the fire or rubbed with the 
hands until perfectly dry ; extra covering on the lower 
limbs, but little on the body. 



334 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

7. Should be compelled to be out of doors for the 
greater part of daylight, ft-HP from after breakfast until 
half an hour before sun-down, unless in damp raw 
weather, when they should not be allowed to go outside 
the door. 

8. Never limit a child as to sleeping or eating, except 
at supper ; but compel regularity as to both ; it is of 
great importance. 

9. Never compel a child to sit still, nor interfere 
with its enjoyment as long as it is not actually injurious 
to person or property, or good morals. 

10. Never threaten a child: it is cruel, unjust, and 
dangerous. What you have to do, do it. 

11. Never speak harshly or angrily, but mildly, 
kindly, and when really needed, firmly — no more. 

I am speaking here in reference to sickly children. 
Their lot is hard enough as it is, and if they die soon, 
the parent will not only be saved many an unavailing 
and sad reproach, but will secure an unfailing source of 
gratulation in after life by observing these last rules, 
for they are not a whit less important than the preced- 
ing, because I know of nothing which so much contri- 
butes to healthfulness as a glad and joyous and buoyant 
spirit. Can a little child's heart be glad, when, with a 
body weighed down by impending disease, the spirit 
is oppressed with endless restraints and rebukes, and 
threats and frowns, when there is an almost constant 
scowl on the only face in the wide world where it should 
"find the uninterrupted sunshine of kindly cheerfulness? 
I think not. 

I have been speaking of effeminacy, of the defective 
physical education of the young, advancing with advan- 
cing wealth and so-called refinement; and as these are 



AVERAGE NUMBER OF DEATHS, ETC. 






found in cities more than in the country, the following 
tables, by their contrast, may make a lasting and useful 
impression. 

The average number of yearly deaths in proportion to 
the population in some of the large Cities of civilized 
countries — thus in Vienna, for every twenty-two persons, 
one dies each year of — {all diseases :) 



EUROPEAN CIT 


[ES. 


AMERICAN CITIES. 


Vienna 


1 in 22 


New Orleans 


1 in 26 


Rome 


1 « 25 


New York 


1 " 30 


Naples 


1 " 28 


Providence 


1 " 41 


Amsterdam 


1 " 28 


Baltimore . 


. 1 " 42 


Brussels 


1 " 29 


Brooklyn 


1 " 42 


Berlin 


1 " 30 


Boston 


1 " 44 


Madrid 


1 " 35 


Charleston 


1 " 44 


Paris, Manchester 


1 « 36 


Philadelphia 


1 " 45 


St. Petersburgh . 


1 " 37 


Washington 


1 " 50 


Glasgow 


1 " 38 


Salem 


1 " 52 


London 


1 " 39 


Lowel 


1 " 57 


Geneva 


1 " 43 


Portland . 


. 1 " 62 



census of eighteen hundred and fifty, the proportion of 
deaths from all diseases to the population is reported in 
the following tables, showing that cities are less healthy 
than the country, and that Northern localities are 
healthier than more Southern ones, other things being 
equal. New York city, for example, would present a 
more favorable statement as to healthfulness, were it 
not that so many immigrants from foreign countries die 
within a few days after landing. So with Boston and 
New Orleans : the latter has the additional drawback 
of the many there in transitu for health — dying, who are 



336 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 



from other parts of the Union. Massachusetts also pre- 
sents a large mortality, because many perish at sea as 
sailors, besides its unusual exposure to cold damp winds. 



Massachusetts 


. 1 in 51 


New Jersey 


1 in 75 


Maryland . 


. 1 " 60 


Maine 


1 u 77 


Kentucky 


. 1 " 64 


S. Carolina 


. 1 " 83 


Connecticut 


. 1 " 64 


Alabama . 


. 1 " 85 


New York 


. 1 " 66 


N. Carolina 


. 1 " 85 


Rhode Island 


. 1 " 66 


Tennessee 


1 " 86 


Texas 


. 1 " 69 


Michigan . 


1 " 87 


Arkansas 


. 1 " 70 


Georgia 


1 " 91 


Illinois 


. 1 "73 


Iowa 


1 " 94 


Delaware . 


. 1 « 73 


Vermont 


1 " 100 


Virginia 


. 1 " 74 


New Hampshire 


1 " 


Pennsylvania 


. 1 " 


Mississippi 


1 ; ' 


Louisiana 


. 1 " 


Ohio 


1 " 


Indiana 


. 1 " 


Missouri 


. 1 « 



Table, showing the ratio of the number of deaths in 
New York city from all diseases and casualties, from the 
year 1800, the annual average for each five years is given. 



Years 
ending. 

1805, 


Population. 

75-770 


Ratio of Deaths 
to Population. 

1 to 33 


Years 
ending. 

1835, 


Ratio of Deaths 
Population, to Population. 

270-089 1 to 41 


1810, 


95-373 


1 " 46} 


1840, 


312-710 


1 " 40 


1815, 


100-619 


1 " 42 


1845, 


371-223 


1 " 37} 


1820, 


128123 


1 " 37 


1850, 


515-394 


1 " 33} 


1825, 


166-086 


1 " 35 


1851, 


550-000 


1 " 28} 


1830, 


202-589 


1 " 39 


1852, 


5 -000 


1 *< 



Over three hundred thousand emigrants arrived in New 
York in 1851, numbers of whom were in a dying condi- 
tion on their arrival ; taking this into consideration, New 
York is nearly as healthy perhaps as other northern cities. 



CULTIVATION, CIVILIZATION, REFINEMENT. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 

It is greatly to be regretted that the preservation of 
the health is not made an essential part of the education 
of every boy and girl. 

Effeminacy, degeneration, and final extirpation, are 
the legitimate results of so called " civilization." Wit- 
ness "all Greek and Roman story." What has been, 
will be again, under similar circumstances. The history 
of ancient nations presents, in one point at least, a 
remarkable coincidence, — on the heels of " cultivation " 
and " refinement " came quickly moral, physical and 
national degradation, and more modern history will not 
afford a different tale, except so far as prevail the pre- 
servative influences of that " salt of the earth " which 
is embodied in the principles of the Christian system, 
requiring its members to " Work with your own hands," 
" That if any would not work, neither should he eat ;" 
precepts, which are to be regarded as truthful to the 
uttermost, whether in a moral or physical signification ; 
the negative "should" applying equally well to the 
want of appetite or the material to satisfy it. In the 
" new dispensation" where substance takes the place of 
the sign of the old, Health is a duty, a truth, which 
half of all those forms and ceremonies which cum- 
bered the commands to the chosen people were in- 
tended to instil, being calculated to promote, directly, 
personal, bodily health. 

If, then, health be a duty, and one which enables a man 
to be a better citizen, a better Christian ; a happier and 
a holier being, — what great dereliction of duty it must 
be, to fail affording our children that early and system- 
atic instruction, which would enable them so well and 
so easily to accomplish that duty, by simply taking 
care of the constitution which has been given them, 
rather than vainly waste lifetimes and fortunes in repair- 
ing what was once rudely shattered by simple neglect 
or unpardonable ignorance ! 
15 



338 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES 

There is no necessary reason why men should net 
generally live to the full age of three score years and 
ten, in health and comfort : that they do not do so, is 
because 

They consume too much food, and too little pure air ; 

They take too much medicine, and too little exercise ; 

and when, by inattention to these things, they become 
diseased, they die chiefly, not because such disease is 
necessarily fatal, but because the symptoms which 
nature designs to admonish of its presence, are disre- 
garded, until too late for remedy. And in no class of 
ailments are delays so uniformly attended with fatal 
results, as in affections of the Throat and Lungs. 

However terrible may have been the ravages of the 
Asiatic Cholera in this country, there is perhaps no 
locality where, in the course of a single year, it de- 
stroyed ten per cent, of the population. Yet, taking 
England and the United States together, twenty per 
cent, of the annual fatality is from diseases of 
the lungs alone. Amid such a fearful fatality, no one 
dares say that he will certainly escape, while every one 
will most assuredly suffer by this same universal 
scourge, either in his own person or in that of some 
relative or friend. No man, then, can take up these 
pages, who is not interested to the extent of life and 
death in the important inquiry, What can be done to 
mitigate this great evil? It is not the object of this pub- 
lication merely to answer that question, but to act it 
out ; and the first great essential step is to impress upon 
the common mind, in language adapted to common 
readers, a proper understanding of the first symptoms 
of these ruthless diseases. 






TO THE READER. 339 

During the ravages of cholera, many thousands per- 
ished, from not knowing what were the predisposing 
causes, and what the premonitory symptoms of that ter- 
rible malady. Other thousands now living, owe it to 
the fact, that they were well informed as to what these 
first symptoms were, and promptly acted up to such 
knowledge. 

The physician of a dozen years experience does not 
live, who cannot point to a little army of the prema- 
turely dead, from ailments of the throat and lungs, 
simply, because they came too late ! They " did not 
think it was any thing more than a common cold." 
And millions of others are destined to perish from the 
same want of definite information as to the difference be- 
tween the symptoms of bronchitis, that is, a common 
cold, and the symptoms of beginning consumption. 

This publication is intended to describe these symp- 
toms, and to illustrate them in a manner so plain, so 
clear, that the most common reader may easily compre- 
hend and remember, all that is important to be under- 
stood. These pages are not designed to propose any 
thing new to medical men; they are not even, offered 
for their perusal, unless they have the diseases treated 
of, or are threatened with them ; they are for the prac- 
tical instruction of the great mass of the community ; 
not as to where they can go to purchase a contrivance, 
or a balsam, or syrup, or tonic, or by whatever name 
any other such things are called, by which they may be 
able to cure themselves : nor is it wished to make the 
impression that the writer will cure those who apply to 
him by some extraordinary secret, which he locks up in 
his own bosom. Having such a secret, he would think 
himself the meanest of his kind, were he not to publish 



340 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

it speedily, on the wings of the wind, that the suffering 
children of humanity, of every country and every clime, 
might derive from it all its advantages, at the earliest 
moment practicable. It is impossible for any book to 
be written which would be a safe and efficient guide to a 
common reader in the treatment of his own case : first, 
because no one plan can by any possibility be applica- 
ble, and second, the combination of symptoms is not the 
same in scarcely any two individuals in a thousand, 
therefore, it is not designed to recommend a medi- 
cinal preventive, or a patented cure for the diseases 
named on the title page ; nor will this book afford aid 
or comfort to those who hope by its perusal to save a 
medical fee by blindly tampering with their constitu- 
tion and their lives ; nor is it desired to make the reader 
believe that if he applies to the Author, he will cer- 
tainly be cured, but to make him first understand the 
nature of any symptoms which he may have, and then 
apply for advice to some regularly educated practitioner, 
who has done nothing to justly forfeit his honorable 
standing among his brethren by the recommendation of 
secret medicines, or patented contrivances, or travelling 
lecturers for the cure of certain diseases. 

The Author has spoken in these pages of persons who 
had specified symptoms, and coming to him, were per- 
manently cured, yet he may not be able to do the 
reader, having similar symptoms, any good. He has 
sometimes failed to cure persons who had no symptoms 
at all. In other cases where but a single symptom was 
present, and that apparently a trivial one, the malady 
has progressed to a fatal termination, in spite of every 
effort to the contrary. The object of these statements, 
is to have it expressly understood that there is no en- 



TO THE READER. 



341 



gagement to cure anything or anybody. The wish is to 
enable the reader to understand properly any symptoms 
he may have which point towards diseases of the lungs ; 
and, when he has done so, to persuade him not to waste 
his time, and money, and health, in blind efforts to re- 
move them, by taking stuff of which he knows little, 
into a body of which he knows less ! but to go to a man 
of respectability, of standing and experience — one in 
whom he has confidence — one who depends on the prac- 
tice of his profession for a living — place health and life 
in his hands, and be assured that thus he and millions 
of others will stand the highest chance of attaining a 
prosperous, cheerful, and green old age. 

The rule should be universal, and among all classes, 
not only never to take an atom of medicine for anything, 
but not to take anything as a medicine — not even a tea- 
spoon of common syrup or French brandy, or a cup of 
red pepper tea, unless by the previous advice of a phy- 
sician; because a spoonful of the purest, simplest syrup, 
taken several times a day, will eventually destroy the 
tone of the healthiest stomach : and yet any person al- 
most would suppose that a little syrup "could do no 
harm, if it did no good.' 1 '' A tablespoon of good brandy, 
now and then, is simple enough, and yet it has made a 
wreck and ruin of the health, and happiness, and hope, 
of multitudes. If these simple, that is, well-knoivn things, 
in their purity, are used to such results, it requires but 
little intelligence to understand, that more speedy inju- 
ries must follow their daily employment, morning, noon, 
and night, when swallowed in the shape of " syrups," 
and "bitters," and " tonics," with other ingredients, how- 
ever " simple" they, too, are represented to be. 

Within a few days, a gentleman of this city was ad- 



342 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

vised, for a slight pimple on the shoulder of an interest- 
ing child of three years of age, to apply a little croton 
oil, he did so, it was absorbed, and in forty-eight hours 
the little sufferer died in convulsions. 

In a late medical periodical, an account is given of a 
person who was advised to rub a little tallow from a 
candle on a scratch on the breast, he did so, and died in 
consequence in a few days. Similar cases have been 
before reported. Whether the tallow had derived some 
poisonous property from the metallic candlestick, or 
whether the arsenic which is put in candles to harden 
and whiten them was the cause, is not known, but these 
incidents serve to show that life may be lost, from what 
to a common observer might appear a remedy so simple 
that "it could' nt do any harm, if it did no good." Chil- 
dren are poisoned every year by eating colored candies. 
Banana, pear, jargonette, and perhaps all other drops 
(candies) are flavored with the hydrated oxide of 
Arnyle, known as Fusel oil, so poisonous that the odor 
of it causes headache, coughing, and other symptoms. 
Only the white candies can be safely eaten. Some 
of the colors in the other kinds are made by the 
most concentrated poisons. There can be no doubt 
that several years would be added to the average of 
human life, if the rule were universal to swallow 
nothing which is not wholly an aliment, unless by the 
advice of a physician. The taking of medicine on our 
own responsibility is the weakness of the age; with 
many it has become almost a mania, for the slightest 
ailment, they think they " must take something." 
Those who are always taking medicine are always 
sick. I have carefully avoided saying anything in 
these pages calculated to encourage so destructive a 



TO THE READER. 343 

habit. Medical books for the million have occasioned 
irreparable mischief by encouraging self-treatment. As 
far as they tend to give instruction as to the best mode 
of preserving health, and as to the symptoms of dan- 
gerous diseases they do well, but beyond that no coun- 
tenance should be given either to the books or their 
authors. To the diffusion of general knowledge as to 
the best methods of preserving health, by teachings as to 
the general laws of our being in relation to air, exercise, 
food, personal habits, clothing, the locality, and con- 
struction of houses, and the management of infants, 
educated and honorable physicians have devoted their 
energies with increasing success, and to them the world 
owes a debt of gratitude not easily computed. From 
the best means in our power for ascertaining -the facts 
of the case, Professor Joseph R. Buchanan states, that 
"in the latter part of the sixteenth century, one-half of 
all that were born died under five years of age, and the 
average longevity of the whole population was but 
eighteen years. In the 17th century, one-half of the 
population lived over twenty-seven years. In the latter 
forty years, one-half exceeded thirty-two years of age. 
At the beginning of the present century, one-half ex- 
ceeded forty years, and from 1838 to 1845 one-half ex- 
ceeded forty-three. 

The common-sense reader will perhaps, from the state- 
ments which have been made, think it a very laudable 
desire to diffuse information among the people as to the 
symptoms of dangerous, insidious, and wide-spreading 
diseases. Countless multitudes have paid the forfeit of 
their lives by ignorance or neglect of the early symptoms 
of Consumptive disease. Perhaps the reader's own 



344 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

heart is this instant smitten at the sad recollection of 
similar cases in his own sphere of observation. 

Whoever lends a helping hand to the diffusion of use- 
ful knowledge, is, in proportion, the benefactor of his 
kind. Whether it be useful for men to know the nature 
and first symptoms of a disease which is destined to de- 
stroy a sixth of the population, is a question which each 
one must , decide for himself ; the Author believes that 
such an effort is useful. 

It is not practicable for all to study medicine, nor is it 
to be expected that for every cough one has, he shall go 
to the expense of taking medical advice ; it therefore 
seems the dictate of humanity to make the necessary in- 
formation more accessible, and there is perhaps no better 
way of accomplishing this object than the general distri- 
bution of a book like this: and when the Author pre- 
tends to no new principle of cure, no specific, and no 
ability of success, beyond what an entire devotion to one 
disease may give any ordinary capacity, no apology is 
necessary for confining the book to causes and symptoms. 

The author lays no greater claim to success, than what 
any man of common capacity might expect, who, under 
similar circumstances, and possessed of equal advanta- 
ges, should, for the same length of time, confine himself 
rigidly to the treatment of a single disease. 

Without saying anything to make the reader believe 
that his practice is widely extended, or crowned with 
unvaried success, the Author thinks that it has been suf- 
ficiently so, to merit the investigation and study of every 
intelligent mind. These wide-spread and fearfully fatal 
diseases are so, not necessarily, but by inattention and 
neglect. They are estimated to destroy prematurely 
one in every six, in civilized society ; not however from 



EECAPITULATION. 345 

their essentially incurable nature ; not because they are 
necessarily fatal in every case ; not one in ten of all who 
have these diseases need die; there is scarcely a doubt 
that nine out of ten would promptly and permanently 
recover, if the Author's views were adopted, by which 
these diseases could be distinguished in their very ear- 
liest stages, and a rational treatment were forthwith be- 
gun and carried out with determined perseverance. 



RECAPITULATION. 



1. Throat- Ail, Chronic Laryngitis, Clergyman's Sore 
Throat, is a disease of the root of the windpipe, answer- 
ing to " Adam's Apple." 

2. Croup is a disease of the body of the windpipe. 

3. Bronchitis is a disease of the branches of the wind- 
pipe. 

4. Consumption is a disease of the air-cells, the lungs 
themselves, which are at the extremities of the branches 
of the windpipe, as buds or leaves are at the extreme 
ends of the branches of a tree. 

5. Throat- Ail when it is decided, and of some months 
continuance, is presumptive evidence of a consumptive 
constitution or tendency ; except where it has been brought 
on by undue exercise, or use of the voice, as by singers 
and public speakers. See page 237. 

6. Throat- Ail is only ameliorated by the application 
of the nitrate of silver ; it is sometimes aggravated by 
it, and unless it is a slight affection and confined to the 

15* 



348 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

voice-organs, it is never permanently cured by any ar 
gentine washes ; while in many instances they are alto- 
gether useless ; and when wholly relied upon, "they are 
pernicious, in consequence of the loss of time which they 
occasion. 

7. Bronchitis is not a disease of the throat or the 
lungs, but of the branches of the -windpipe which are 
situated between the two. 

8. Consumption is as certainly, as often, and as per 
manently cured, when properly attended to in its first 
beginnings, as any other serious disease. 

9. If the lungs have not begun to decay away, and if 
tubercles are not extensively deposited, a permanent 
cure is probable. 

10. If the lungs have decayed but to a small extent, 
a restoration to comfortable health is not unlikely. 

11. When decided decay has taken place in the lungs, 
a permanent arrest of the disease is a possible event. 

12. When Consumption is fixed in the system, there 
is but little prospect of any other than a fatal termina- 
tion. 

13. In any case of apparent Consumption, it is not 
possible to decide certainly that it is not Consumption, 
without the use of lung measurement. 

14. Inasmuch as all educated physicians admit that 
the lungs may be in a state of actual decay, without its 
being detected by the stethescope, the plessimeter, or 
by auscultation, these means are not reliable in any 
case. 

15. Inasmuch as it is an impossibility for any ma- 
terial portion of the lungs to have been lost without its 
being detected by lung measurement, then no case of 
actual or threatened, or supposed consumptive disease 
should be decided on without this lung measurement 
being taken. 

16. If any part of the lungs have decayed away, spi- 
rometry most certainly detects it. 



RECAPITULATION. 347 

17. If the lungs are whole and entire, and in full 
healthful action, spirometry will infallibly indicate it. 

18. If spirometry indicates full lung action in any 
given case, it is wholly impossible that the lungs in that 
case should be unsound as to consumptive disease, 
any and all other symptoms to the contrary notwith- 
standing. 

19. In deciding in any particular case whether or not 
Consumption exists in any stage, no physician should 
rely on any one, or two, or three symptoms, or means 
of diagnosing. 

20. A warm air or climate aggravates Consumption 
in all its stages, and cures it in none. 

21. A steady, cool, still, dry atmosphere promotes 
the cure of Consumption in all its stages. 

22. A windy climate, a damp climate, a sultry cli- 
mate, will render Consumption most fatal in all cases. 

23. Sea voyages aggravate Consumption, unless they 
are over thirty miles from land, and are continuous for 
several months. 

24. Cod Liver Oil is perhaps the best remedy now 
known for general scrofulous disease. It is an aid of 
some value in the treatment of consumptive persons 
who are under twenty-five years of age, and of those of 
any age, who when in health were decidedly inclined to 
be fat, or fleshy. But in other cases it is generally in- 
ert, or so impairs the appetite, or deranges the stomach, 
or affects the bowels, as to be a positive injury. In all 
cases where it imparts flesh and strength, it does good. 

25. The true principle of treating Consumption is to 
regard it as a constitutional, and not a local disease. 

26. Persons benefited, or cured by a sea voyage or 
by " going to the South," are those who have an affec- 
tion of the stomach or liver, rather than of the lungs. 

27. It is not insisted on that Consumption is curable 
in its advanced stages, or that it is easily cured in any 
stage, but that if the symptoms are all properly attended 
to on their very first appearance, a perfect and perma- 
nent cure is a common occurrence. 



348 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

28. The eradication of Throat-Ail and Consumption 
cannot, unless in the very earliest stages, be rationally 
calculated upon, except by a steady, systematic, deter- 
mined perseverance : see page 236. 

29. A cough equally steady or violent, or as likely to 
be so during the day as well as the night, is presump- 
tive evidence that the ailment is elsewhere than in the 
lungs. 

30. Spinal irritation is sometimes masked by promi- 
nent consumptive symptoms (page 240), when the lungs 
themselves are free from special disease. Several such 
cases are under present treatment with encouraging 
promise of favorable results, which if treated as Con- 
sumption, would prove speedily fatal; B. S., 1121, ex- 
hibited the average pulse of health, with full, perfect lung 
measurement : the reverse another of surpassing interest, 
by reason of youth and accomplishment and mental 
culture, monopolizing merited sympathies, bearing for 
weary weeks and months, with steady endurance the 
ceaseless suffering whieh characterises spinal affections, 
and yet no consumptive decay. 

31. However marked and efficient may be the effects 
of the treatment of Throat- Ail and Consumption, persons 
will remain cured, entirely free from the symptoms of 
these ailments, (J^gr 3 only so long as they take care of 
themselves, 

By regular habits of eating, sleeping, and exercise : 

By lives of temperance : 

By avoiding all needless exposure and over effort : 

By habitually and conscientiously guarding against 
the things which first caused the disease, since no malady, 
except such as small-pox, can be so perfectly cured, as 
not to return, as often as there is exposure to its cause: 

32. By the almost total neglect of the physical educa- 
tion of our children hitherto, our sons and daughters 
perish by multitudes before maturity, and many of our 
old family names have already died out. 



RECAPITULATION. 349 

It is a truth of weighty import, that the most ignorant 
" Doctor " in the world will, in a series of continuous 
cases, either in a general or special practice, perform 
one or more remarkable cures ; or, more correctly 
speaking, will have one or more remarkable recoveries, 
and any medicine, whether rain water or aqua-fortis, 
calomel or bread-crumb, infinitesimal or bolus, mor- 
phine or molasses, will, if given indiscriminately in 
every case that presents itself, in any long series, be 
followed inevitably by stray astonishing cures or very 
wonderful recoveries. But these are not the kind of 
evidence on which any rational man ought to experi- 
ment his health and life upon. 

All that can be said of the infinitude of " Affirma- 
tions," " Affidavits," " Certificates," " Sworn to's," 
which pollute the page of the book and the column of 
the newspaper, is that certain things were done, or 
swallowed, or suffered, and the patient got well ; but 
that he got well in consequence of using those means, 
is a wholly different thing ; and upon this, holy human 
lives are daily hung by thousands. 

" The same may be said of the scientific physician," 
replies the superficial thinker ; but it is not so. The 
difference between the educated practitioner and the 
quack is this : The latter gives the same remedy for 
every disease that presents itself ; if it fails, he is at his 
wit's end — he knows no substitute, as he administers a 
remedy for any given disease in perfect ignorance of 
how that remedy is to accomplish the desired change. 
But suppose he does not happen to have the remedy by 
him, or suppose there be some insuperable obstacle, 
from idiosyncrasy or otherwise, which makes it imprac- 
ticable for the patient to take it ; in either case, his 
hands are tied, and he knows no more what else to do, 
as the next best thing, than an idiot. The merchant 
who understands his business, and who does not chance 
to have the identical article you want, will almost by 
instinct name the next best thing in his store. He does 
this because he understands his business ; but the quack, 
in a "warehouse containing every medicine known to 



350 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

men, has not the slightest conception as to which of 
them gives effects nearest his own. 

On the other hand, the educated physician knows, as 
well as man can know such things, the principles on 
which each remedy acts ; he knows the effect which each 
remedy generally produces, and he knows the effect 
which ought to be produced in order to promote recov- 
ery ; and if the best remedy is. not in his possession, 
he selects from all the store around him what is next 
best. If, for example, he desires to produce instant and 
effective vomiting, he will give Tartar Emetic ; if none 
is to be had, he will administer Powdered Alum ; if the 
patient " can't take a powder" he takes a table-spoonful 
of Salt and a table-spoonful of Mustard ; this is mixed 
in a glass of water, and down it goes, and almost in- 
stantaneously up it comes, and the man is saved. But 
suppose he has lock-jaw, and must vomit or die within 
half an hour ; what then — he rubs the skin over the 
stomach with a damp cloth, places on it a small leaf ot 
tobacco, and in a minute, almost, the cataract comes 
through open jaws, which a moment before no iron could 
pry apart. This is the grand test. of the accomplished 
and scientific practitioner : he is full of expedients, 
knows in an instant what is wanted, tne means of accom- 
plishing it, and how it is going to do it; and thus it is 
that the intelligent patient feels safe in the hands of 
" His Doctor " — as safe as can be, next to Him who 
ruleth over all. 

CASE OF THROAT-AIL. 

The following letter is highly instructive, especially to 
clergymen, and presents several features of considerable 
interest to others. 

July 13, 1852. 
My Dear Sir : — 

I have just been reading your work on " Bronchitis 
and Kindred Diseases " with much interest, and I trust, 
some profit, as I am one of the many clergymen who 
have suffered from the prevailing disease of the throat 



CASE OF A MISSIONARY. 351 

which you describe ; and with the hope of aid, of which, 
for some time past, I have almost despaired, I am in- 
duced to submit to you the following statement: 

I am forty years of age, have a light complexion and 
an ardent temperament, and although I never was seri- 
ously ill, till about twelve years since, I never enjoyed 
the firm and robust health which most of my associates 
had. 

I was, from a child, subject to severe and frequent 
attacks of sick head-ache, which I inherited, in common 
with a large family of brothers and sisters, from my 
mother. 

Soon after I entered on the duties of my profession, 
I went as a Missionary to Syria, and the Holy Land, 
where I spent several years under the direction of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- 
sions, till poor health compelled me to return to my 
native land. 

While I was a resident in the City of Jerusalem, I 
was brought very low by a protracted fever. For 
several weeks my life hung in doubt, and my prospect 
of recovery was, perhaps, the faintest possible. I did 
however at length begin to amend, and for some time 
slowly gained. But before my recovery was complete, 
I was seized with great violence with the Fever and 
Ague, a disease which, in that country, prevails very 
extensively, and is particularly severe and unmanagea- 
ble in the case of foreigners. This gradually prostrated 
the little remaining strength and energy I had, although 
I struggled on with the hope of relief for nearly two 
years before leaving the country. 

After my return to this country "in 1843, although 
the Ague still lingered in my system, and often prostra- 
ted me for a day or two, my general improvement was 
very decided and wery great. Several months of re- 
cruit so encouraged me, that I was induced to settle as 
a pastor over a country church, in this my native State. 
Although often afflicted with the " Sick Head-Ache," and 
the "Fever and Ague" generally both at the same 
time, I remained there nearly seven years, and per- 



352 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

formed a great deal of anxious labor, in the midst of 
much that was exciting and perplexing, and with an 
insufficient salary. In addition to this, I had almost 
constant domestic affliction, connected with the death 
of several children, and the protracted sickness of oth- 
ers, who finally recovered. 

In this state of things, my Digestive and Nervous Sys- 
tem became very seriously disordered, and some four 
years since, or about two years before I was compelled 
to ask for a dismission, and stop preaching, my throat 
became very sore and troublesome. 

There was much canker, great elongation of the Uvula, 
and inflammation of the Tonsils. 

I however most unwisely kept at my work, doing lit- 
tle or nothing for myself and hoping for a better day. 

But you need not be informed that, in this way, the 
better day I hoped for, did not arrive. 

My throat steadily grew worse, until the inflammation 
gradually extended itself to the top of the lungs, at 
least this was my opinion, as also the opinion of several 
physicians. At any rate, I found myself very low, and 
continually sinking lower, with poor appetite, much ema- 
ciation, great nervous excitement, sleeplessness, weakness, 
coughing, and occasional spitting of blood. This was the 
state of the case about two years since, when I was dis- 
missed and gave myself seriously to the business ot 
getting better. 

I first applied to , who clipped the Uvula, and 

removed the Tonsils, which were badly inflamed and 
much ulcerated. Soon after this, attracted by the great 

fame of , I visited him and put myself under his 

care. He seemed very confident he could cure me at 
once, with the nitrate of silver and other means, and 
actually did relieve me to some extent. 

But soon after leaving him, I found the difficulty re- 
turning, and fearing I had not made a fair trial of the 
nitrate of silver, I at length put myself under the care 

of , who seemed equally confident with , 

that he could cure me. I remained under his care some 
four or five months, but with no permanent benefit. * * * 






THROAT-AIL DESCRIBED. 353 

For some months past, I have taken no medicine, and 
done nothing except to use some simple gargle for the 
throat, &c. * * * 

I have expended my little all in the efforts of the 
past two years of my suspension from labor, to regain 
my health. Previous to meeting with your late work, 
some short time since, I had almost made up my mind 
that it was in vain for me to hope further for complete 
restoration, while care for a dependent family was fast 
crushing my little remaining courage out of me. But 
the very careful perusal of your work has inspired me 
with some fresh hope, and determined me to make 
known my case to you, and ask your friendly offices in 
my behalf. And that you may the more definitely un- 
derstand my case, as it now is, permit me to describe it 
as it seems to me. 

I have much less head-ache than formerly, and almost 
no ague. But a fundamental difficulty, as it seems to 
me, is a bad digestion, and great irregularity in the 
bowels. 

I am sometimes quite costive, but am oftener troubled 
with an unnatural looseness, from three to six evacuations 
a day, and sometimes attended with great flatulence. 

I am also greatly troubled with a. bad catarrhal affec- 
tion of the nose, the posterior nares seem often to be 
very much inflamed. My eyes and my whole face suffer 
from the attack, being red, inflamed and sore. 

Neuralgic pains shoot through my cheeks and tem- 
ples. My head is either exceedingly heavy and dull, 
or violently aches ; and during the attack, which usually 
lasts from twelve to twenty-four hours, I feel nearly sick 
enough to be in bed. 

While the attack continues, the amount of thin, color- 
less, inodorous water which flows from the external 
nostrils is amazing; but generally, if I can fall asleep, 
which at such times is difficult, the discharge ceases, and 
after a night's sleep, I awake better, and very much 
refreshed. 

The intervals between these attacks vary from one to 
four weeks, the greater part of the time being about 



354 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

one ^eek; and during these intervals, I scarcely feel 
any inconvenience of the kind, the nostrils being very 
rarely stopped up. This is a trouble of long standing, 
and for the removal of which I have tried more nos- 
trums and "certain remedies" than lean easily enu- 
merate. I suffered from it long before I felt the difficulty 
in the throat, * * * * and this leads me to speak more 
particularly of the throat as it is. 

If I take the slightest cold, which I easily do, my 
throat is decidedly sore, the tonsils seem inflamed, and 
there is soreness, apparently, at the top of the windpipe, 
and the follicles on the back part of the throat behind 
the palate are swollen and shining. 

When I have no cold, there is no great soreness, but 
generally some slight irritation and heat. The follicles 
before mentioned do not entirely disappear, but remain, 
though less prominent, and far more pale in color. 

There is a slight soreness about the swallow, or opening 
into the windpipe, and I- very often find myself trying 
to swallow something, which seems to be lodged in that 
region. (The uvula had been removed two years be- 
fore. — Author.) 

/ easily become hoarse, especially at night, when I 
much oftener feel such a relaxation of the muscles of 
the throat, and neck, and upper breast, as nearly destroys 
the power and tone of my vocal organs. I have natu- 
rally a clear, distinct tenor voice; and have always been 
accustomed to singing. But at these times, my voice 
is dry, husky and unnatural, and my utterance exceed- 
ingly difficult and prostrating, so much so, that I instinct- 
ively avoid occasions for speaking. The effort obliges 
me to summon all the energy I possess. This, indeed, 
is now my greatest trouble. 

It is not so much soreness, or even hoarseness, as it is 
weakness, — a feeling all about the throat and neck and 
upper part of the breast as though I had not the power 
to speak. 

My mouth and throat, which used to be very hot and 
dry, particularly on waking in the morning, are now 
quite comfortable in that respect, and at times, especially 



RESTORATION. 355 

the day after I have preached, my voice has nearly its 
former power and elasticity, always being worse in the 
former than in the latter part of the day." 

Nearly the entire letter of this correspondent is given, 
the italics not being his. It will be read with interest 
by other clergymen, who will see in it much that coin- 
cides with their own feelings and symptoms. This case 
was treated by correspondence, and I had for some 
months ceased to hear from him ; but having steadily 
improved from the first week of his application, I sup- 
posed he was well. In sixteen months after his first let- 
ter, he called at my office for the first time. Pulse 
natural, breathing regular, the lungs perfectly sound, 
working fully, measuring two hundred and thirty-two 
cubic inches, which was some twenty inches more than 
his healthful standard. 

I understood him to say that he had preached regu- 
larly for some nine months, missing but one Sabbath, 
and having been invited to the pastorate of several 
churches, he had called on me to advise him as to the 
locality which would be best suited to his case. I saw 
nothing which required medical advice, and trust he will 
live to labor usefully and long. 

It would be interesting to invalids to read other let- 
ters, in which descriptions are given in the language of 
patients themselves, but perhaps enough has been said 
to enable persons to understand the general symptoms 
of the diseases treated of. But in reference to clergy- 
men, I desire to say, that as a general rule, it is time 
and money thrown away, in cases of legitimate and un- 
complicated throat-ail, to quit preaching, and go to the 
South, or across the Atlantic, or to some large city : for 
they can be treated safely and successfully at home, in 
the continuation of their labors. 

I have found, thus far, that in three cases out of four, 
a return to preaching is a necessary prescription, under 
suitable restrictions as to time, manner, amount, &c. 

In all cases, without an exception, where preaching 
gives a stinging sensation, or a sharp, knife-like pain, or 



356 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

requires a great effort, $3T not one word should be ut- 
tered, in public, until by previous careful training the 
parts are prepared for the exercise. 

I have not found it necessary to take off the uvula 
once in any five hundred adult cases. 

I have not seen in the last ten years exclusive prac- 
tice in diseases of the air passages, one single adult 
case, where I thought the excision of the tonsils desira- 
ble. I believe their removal is unnecessary, and that 
in many cases it is a fatal error ; not that the operation 
destroys life at once, but that it lays the foundation for 
the loss of life, by consumption of the lungs, I think is 
demonstrable. 

I believe that in cases of actual consumptive disease, 
the removal of the tonsils hastens death. 

I believe that in cases of incipient consumption, the 
removal of the tonsils fixes consumption on the lungs. 
I believe that those who are of a consumptive family, 
or who from various causes are threatened with con- 
sumption, will precipitate consumption on the lungs by 
removing the tonsils ; whereas, had they been permitted 
to remain, such a result would have been indefinitely 
postponed. 

These sentiments are entertained on the ground of 
counter irritation. I have observed that those persons 
having consumptive symptoms, with scarce any tonsils 
at all, in consequence of their having shrivelled away, 
do more certainly die, than those who have enlarged 
tonsils, for they " bear the brunt " of colds, and through 
them colds pass from the system with comparative im- 
punity. 1 trust the Profession will direct their obser- 
vations to this point, for it has become so popular a 
practice that the first step, and one taken as a matter of 
course, is to remove them for any throat affection which 
presents itself. I know very well that such an opera- 
tion is not critical, gives but little pain, and no noticea- 
ble present inconvenience ; but that their indiscriminate 
removal does generally lay the foundation for disastrous 
results, is a fact of which I at least am fully convinced. 
My plan is to reduce them when enlarged, and as nature 



TONSIL CUTTING PERNICIOUS. 857 

placed them there, it is rational to conclude that it was 
for some important, at least necessary purpose, and that 
there they ought to be permitted to remain in their in- 
tegrity, unless some malignant or acute disease renders 
their immediate removal imperative. My views are, 
that it is better for a cold to settle anywhere else than 
on the lungs, that the tonsils are as a van-guard, and 
often withstand and bear back the enemy, and thus 
secure the lungs from attack, so that instead of removing 
them, every effort ought to be made to restore them to 
a healthful condition, in their place, especially as their 
removal sometime occasions suffering, and is not always 
unattended with danger. See page 309. 

A CASE TO BE STUDIED. 

On a cold November night, a gentleman was called 
to visit a neighbor in distress, and became thoroughly 
chilled, resulting in a cough, which gradually increased 
in violence, until it gave him no rest during the day, 
and he visibly declined in flesh; and when I first saw 
him, on the tenth of January following, he looked badly ; 
but had no pain, appetite good, sleep sound, and felt as 
strong as he ever did. The moment he laid down in 
bed his cough ceased, and returned only on rising in the 
morning. Reading, conversation, any sudden or fast 
motion, going up stairs, entering a room, or going out 
of doors, — all these things excited an irritating, dry 
cough; almost the only relief he could get would be in 
continued gentle motion out of doors. 

I warned him of the serious nature of his ailment, 
and urged the use of appropriate means without delay ; 
but, like persons generally, he could not be persuaded 
that it was any thing more than a cold — he felt perfectly 
well in every respect except the cough. He was only 
thirty, in the prime of life, had weighed more the pre- 
vious summer than he ever did, had had a similar attack 
in Paris, eight years before, and felt sure it would, as 
that did, gradually wear off as spring advanced. But it 
did not wear off; in about six weeks he commenced 



358 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

spitting blood, which continued almost daily for some 
weeks. The most competent physician in Philadelphia 
could not arrest it, and he wrote to me — " I went to bed 
as usual on Monday evening, April 30th, and slept un- 
til about six o'clock nest morning, when I began to 
cough, and it required considerable effort to bring any 
thing up ; and while straining to do so, up came a spoon- 
ful of red blood ; since then, and even now, I have been 
spitting blood at every expectoration : it is not all blood, 
but mixed with the sputa. It has not weakened me any, 
I feel as strong as ever; and this morning, three days 
after, I have walked three miles, without any difficulty, 
but still 1 cough about every half hour, and it is dry, 
and the expectoration scanty, with quite dark blood. 
Pulse eighty, breathing easy, appetite good, sleep sound. 
I have no pain»s or aches any where." 

His physician, the most accomplished auscultator in 
Philadelphia, advised him that " there is now a mucous 
rattle under the right clavicle, (collar bone,) and that the 
little patches of tubercles are beginning to soften, and 
about two inches of surface dissolved.'' This was April 
19th ; the first bleeding was March 1st. 

This gentleman became steadily and gradually worse ; 
the cough troubled him in the night as well as in the 
day ; he steadily grew weaker, more wan in appearance, 
his gait became slow, measured and careful, as a mis- 
step would bring cough or blood, or at least the fear of 
it ; he was chilly ; he had constant exhausting and 
drenching night-sweats, and the general remark was, he 
will not live long. Soon after he was stricken with an 
intense pain in the left thigh, which became endurable 
in a day or two, but left him limping at every step. 

Under these circumstances, I advised him that it was 
not a case of consumptive disease, that all medicine was 
wholly useless, that the only hope of life was in the 
adoption of certain modes of life, and forms of exercise, 
in a locality favorable to certain contingencies. I as- 
sured him that I believed it was almost impossible for 
him not to get well, if he would rigidly and energeti- 
cally carry out my views, and at once. I was impor- 



VEGETABLE MEDICINES POISONOUS. 359 

tuned by his parents, day after day, singly and together, 
to "do something" at least to give something for his 
cough, and then an endless list of syrups, and teas, and 
cough-drops, and the like, was in daily presentation ; 
my opinion was asked as to each one — could it do him 
any harm, ? It was very simple, might it not do him 
some good. ? Its simplicity consisted in its constituents 
being known, and that they were " entirely vegetable" 
seeming to think that as the constituents were familiar 
articles, they could not possibly be injurious, especially 
too as it was a purely vegetable remedy. So is morphine, 
which destroys life in an hour — or prussic acid, in a mo- 
ment. In reply to all these, I could only say, that they 
could do him no good, and that they were worse than 
useless ; because they were medicines, they had no nu- 
tritive qualities, and therefore could not possibly give 
him any strength, while they might impair his digestion 
or injuriously affect his stomach or bowels. 

In one month after this patient entered wholly and 
heartily on the plan I had marked out for him, he wrote 
to me saying : — 

" I am getting along surprisingly well as regards my 
health. Indeed, I feel almost well. I would not have 
believed that so great a change could have been effected 
in so short a time. I attribute the wonderful improve- 
ment in my condition to the principles of practice incul- 
cated by you" — which he enumerates. 

I deem it due here to utter this caution, that notwith- 
standing the encouragements which a physician meets 
in his practice, and the strong corroborations of the 
truthfulness of his principles, which occur from time to 
time, he is yet doomed to witness the total failure of all 
his efforts in particular cases, from a variety of causes ; 
and yet, for the sake of the palpable results which in 
the main attend his practice, he is induced, in spite of 
his occasional failures, to strive resolutely on ; as it is 
better to save some, than none at all ; for it is but too 
true, that the scientific practitioner is often pained to 



3C0 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

observe, that application is made to him, after every- 
thing, and every body else has been tried in vain, and 
when the stamina of nature is almost worn out, and her 
recuperative energies nearly exhausted, by the blind 
and indiscriminate use of the numberless "patent medi- 
cines'''' of the day, he is then called upon, and in a cer- 
tain sense, it is demanded of him, that to this remnant 
of a man, he shall impart a new vigor, and health, and 
life! 

I do not mean to say that this gentleman is well, but 
I do mean to say, that if he will as energetically con- 
tinue my prescriptions, he will, with great certainty, in 
due time, arrive at as good health as he has ever had. 
But, if he, from any cause, ceases to observe the course 
marked out for him by me, I think he will fall into per- 
manent ill-health. 

I do not give this as a single case of the kind coming 
under my eye ; I have had others, but this is recent, 
and shows the present value of the means employed. 
Nor is it a remarkable case, for it is simply in accord- 
ance with acknowledged principles of practice, and I 
give it to impress the reader with one or two important 
facts, which may be eminently practical to him,. 

First. Because a man is sick, coughs, spits blood, has 
drenching night-sweats, fails away in flesh, it does not 
certainly follow that he has consumption. 

Second. Nor does it follow that a man having the 
above symptoms, must, as a matter of course, take 
physic, or wear all sorts of girtings, up-holders, &c. 

Third. That in any case of disease, it is first of all, 
of the very highest importance, to know that a case is 
not one of consumption, and then to know what it is, 
and what is best to do. 

The reader will want to know the reason of my con- 
fidence in my own opinion, and of my steady refusal to 
give any medicine at all. 

First. I knew this gentleman to have been in perfect 
health less than a year before, and that all his habits of 
life were regular and right. 

Second. When I first saw the case as a physician, I 



WHY NOT GIVE MEDICINE. 361 

had detected the spot of the mucous rattle, which led 
the physician to believe the lungs were in a state of de- 
cay there, and it was against all my experience that the 
lungs could begin to decay from softened Tubercle from 
January to March, in a man who had previously enjoyed 
uninterrupted good health. 

Third. His pulse was not the pulse of consumptive 
decay ; it was too slow, too soft, too full. 

Fourth. His lungs, on trial, measured as much as I 
had known them to do in health five years before. 

Fifth. My reason for so steadily refusing to give 
any medicine whatever was, his appetite was good, his 
bowels were regular, his pulse indicated no fever and 
no irritation, and the giving of any medicine might 
derange these healthful operations, while the considera- 
tion superior to all others was to maintain the appetite 
in its integrity, so that he might derive nourishment and 
strength to enable him to resist the debilitating effects 
of a constant, harassing cough and wasting- night-sweats, 
my whole object was, not to give a tonic to enable him 
to eat more, for there is seldom danger in any disease 
that persons shall eat too little, but to enable him to 
digest more completely what he did eat ; this would 
give pure blood, rich blood ; blood which would impart 
vigor, and health, and life, to the whole man — and so 
it did. 

The fourth reason given above is of sufficient import- 
ance to merit the serious consideration of every invalid 
■ — the mathematical measurement of the lungs as a sign in 
consumption. 

The lungs contain air ; and their object is to receive, 
hold, and expel air ; a certain amount of this air is 
necessary to the health of any individual, but that 
amount must vary in proportion to the size and age of 
a person, as much as the healthful amount of blood is 
proportionate to the size and age. 

It is known how much air a man's lungs, in perfect 

and full healthful operation, should hold, by measuring 

it as we would measure water, by transferring it from a 

vessel whose capacity was not known into one whose 

16 



362 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

capacity was known. If, then, I find that every man of 
thousands, who is in perfect health, emits a certain 
amount of air from his lungs, I conclude that any other 
man, under similar circumstances, who gives from his 
lungs an equal amount of air, must be in good health, 
as far as his lungs are concerned, and every year accu- 
mulates its additional proofs of the same great fact, and 
when it is known that the lungs work fully and well, an 
immense burden is at once removed from the mind of 
the physician, as well as patient, for he has less to do — 
the patient has less to dread. 

All that the Spirometer does, (or Breath-Measurer, which 
is its literal signification.) is to measure the amount of air 
contained in any man's lungs with mathematical cer- 
tainty and precision, down to the fraction of a single 
cubic inch. Thus far the patient can see, as well as the 
physician, what is his actual measure, and by comparing 
it with what it ought to be in health, he can haVe some 
idea of what he has to do, and of his present condition. 

We all must know that if a man's lungs in health 
should hold three hundred cubic inches, they would, if half 
gone, certainly not measure over one hundred and fifty, 
and so of any other proportion, down to an inch. 

The two important uses to be made of this most in- 
valuable principle are — 

First. If a man can only expire his full healthful quo- 
ta of air, he most assuredly cannot have actual con- 
sumption, whatever else may be the matter with him, 
and the knowledge of this one fact alone, arrived at by 
such unmistakable evidence, is of incomputable worth 
to any invalid, not only relieving him of the weight of 
a million mill-stones, but in affording him an important 
means of restoration — hopefulness, for we almost all 
instinctively feel, if it is not consumption there is at 
least a chance of life ; but if it is consumption there is 
no hope. 

Second. The next important practical deduction is of 
a two-fold character. 

If the lungs do not give out their full healthful 
amount of air, it is because they are actually affected, 



IMPORTANT TO PARENTS. 363 

or are threatened. The instrument does not tell this, it 
must be determined by the mature judgment of the ex- 
perienced physician. 

If the lungs be in a consumptive decay, the pulse and 
auscultation, with the data already afforded by measure- 
ment, will detect this state of things, with a degree of 
certainty which is most admirable ; and this certainty 
is made doubly sure, if being under treatment a short 
time, his lungs measure less week after week, for then 
he is certainly dying by inches. 

But it does not follow because a man does not mea- 
sure to his full standard, that he is consumptive ; it 
only shows the one thing, that he is defective as to the 
action and capacity of his lungs, that deficiency may be 
the result of decay, or debility, or from the lungs being 
crowded with phlegm or other fluids ; if the deficiency is 
not from decay, proper treatment will diminish that de- 
ficiency from week to week, because the treatment in- 
vites back the action of the lungs. Thus it is that the 
gradual increase in the capacity of the lungs to hold 
air, when that capacity, by any cause, has been dimin- 
ished, is demonstrative of a return towards health. 

A WEIGHTY CONSIDERATION. 

Common consumption comes on by slow degrees, and 
I have never known a case that was not preceded, for 
months, by an inability of the lungs to measure their 
full standard. I consider it wholly impossible for a 
man to have actual consumption, until he has not been 
able for months to measure the full amount of air. This 
deficit in the measurement of the lun^s never fails to 
exist in any case of clearly defined consumption, and 
inasmuch as it always precedes consumption, its exist- 
ence for some months in succession ought to be consid- 
ered a sympton of consumption in its early stages, and 
a course of treatment should be adopted which would 
annihilate that deficit at the earliest possible moment. 

To show how r certainly this deficit of lung capacity, 
or lung action is removed, when it exists not as an effect 



364 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

of a decay of the lungs, but as an effect of imperfect 
action, I give here a few cases. 

C. W. F., aged 17, an only son of a wealthy family, 
was placed under my care May 26, 1852. Thin in flesh, 
pain in side, sore throat, tightness across the breast, 
short breath, difficult to fetch a ISng breath, trouble- 
some running and sniffling of the nose, a weak back, 
with other indications of a weakly constitution. The 
measurement of his lungs should have been Two Hun- 
dred and Twenty -five cubic inches, their actual capacity 
was Two Hundred. 

DATE. PULSE. WEIGHT. BREATHING. LUNG MEASURE. 



May, 


1852, 


26 


72 


103 


16 


200 


June 




2 


72 


103 


16 


206 






9 


72 


1031 


16 


216 






24 


72 


107 


16 


238 


July 




19 


88 


104 


20 


216 






23 


82 


103 


18 


216 


Aug 




7 


78 


105 


15 


230 






24 


76 


1071 


16 


238 


Sept. 




29 


72 


111* 


16 


250 


Nov., 


1853 


8 


72 


121* 


16 


252 



The parents of this case, especially the mother, vis- 
ited me at different times, expressing the deepest solici- 
tude, and exhibiting an abiding impression that their 
child, upon whom so many hopes were hung, was cer- 
tainly going into a decline, especially as he had grown 
up rapidly, and was a slim narrow-breasted child. 

The reader will perceive with what admirable prompt- 
ness the lungs answered to the means used for their 
development, in the very first fortnight, and with that 
increase of action a corresponding increase in flesh, so 
that in four months, and they embracing the hottest of 
the year, when most persons lose both flesh and strength, 
he had gained eight and a half pounds, while the capa- 
city of his lungs for receiving air had increased one -fifth, 
that is, fifty cubic inches, and at the end of a year, when 
he called as a friend, was still gaining in flesh, and 



NEWPORT, SARATOGA. 365 

strength, and vigor, with no indication, apparent or co- 
vert, of any disease whatever. 

What untold treasure would these parents have given, 
when their child was first brought to me for examina- 
tion, to have known that the very next year their son 
would have been one of the most hearty, healthy, manly- 
looking young men of his age in New York ; and yet 
there can be no doubt that he would have dwindled 
away, like a flower prematurely withered, had his case 
been neglected, in the vain hope of his "growing out 
of UP" 

The reader will notice, that on the thirteenth of July, 
every symptom became unfavorable ; his pulse in- 
creased, his weight diminished, his breathing was more 
rapid, and his lung-measurement declined largely — the 
reason is, that he left the city in June, and spent some 
weeks at Newport and Saratoga, with his parents, inter- 
mitting all remedial means; but, as soon as he returned 
to New York, and gave diligent attention to what was 
required of him, his symptoms began at once to abate, 
and he steadily improved to his recovery. " The 
Springs " have proved the grave of many young people 
with consunptive symptoms, and older consumptives gen- 
erally get worse there. The high feeding, or get what 
you can system of diet, at watering places, fashionable 
hotels, and boarding-houses, their Lilliputian, one win- 
dowed rooms, from one to "five pair back," the mid- 
night clatter along interminable passages, the tardy, or 
no answer, to bell-call, the lookout from your chamber 
window over some stable, side-alley, or neighbor's back 
yard; these, with the coldness, and utter want of sym- 
pathy at such places, would soon make a well man sick, 
and will kill instead of cure the consumptive. They 
want, instead of these, the free, fresh mountain air, the 
plain substantial food of the country farm-house, the 
gallop along the highways, the climbing over the hills 
by day, and the nightly reunions with family and kin- 
dred and friends. And yet the million stereotype this 
mistake, against all reason and common sense. Only 
now and then is one found to choose the better way, 



366 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

against troops of remonstrants and opposers, who never 
had experience, who never think for themselves, — and 
that is the brave man who gets well, especially when he 
is determined to do so. 

The following letter from a Presbyterian clergyman, 
received while the last sheets were going to press, pos- 
sesses great interest, as describing one of a large class 
of cases of young girls, just falling into consumption or 
spinal disease, whom judicious attention, with but little 
medicine, would decide to be healthful for life. Let 
every parent make a timely use of it, and not wait until 
disease is permanently fixed. 

" December 20, 1853. 
Dear Sir, — 

The great benefit which my oldest daughter and my- 
self have received from your prescriptions, induces me 
to write on behalf of my second daughter, aged eighteen. 
She is five feet three inches ; monthlies regular in every 
respect; bowels act daily, but a little inclined to cos- 
tiveness; pulse about eighty. Her cough, which alarms 
me, is rather a singular one ; she seldom coughs but 
once at a time, and that is a hollow one, somewhat fre- 
quent, attended with a little pain just above the center 
of the chest, and from that spot, the cough seems to 
arise, but seldom any pain except when she coughs. 
She raises but little. But in the morning she feels as 
though she wants to clear her throat, and raises some 
phlegm, and so after eating. She is somewhat troubled 
with cold feet : almost devoid of appetite, especially in 
the morning. She seems to want but little, except one 
meal a day, and that is dinner. 

She feels weak and drooping, her limbs feel like giv- 
ing away under her. She sleeps very well at night, but 
has a bad taste in her mouth in the morning, especially 
if her window is not down a little from the top during 
the night to let in the air. 

At times, especially in a wet or cloudy day, she can- 
not sing with her usual ease. When she was a little 
girl, she was troubled with swollen tonsils, but now this 



RETIRING FROM BUSINESS. 367 

seldom occurs. When she gets tired, she has some pain 
in her back." 

It is the want of timely and decisive attention, in just 
such cases as this, which makes many a daughter an 
invalid for life, mingling a bitter drop with every glad- 
ness, throwing a cloud over every day of sunshine, a 
blight on every hope, a thorn in every pleasure, a tear 
in every smile. To her mother, she is a perma- 
nent source of anxiety and apprehension. Should she 
become a wife, she creates such an incessant demand 
upon her husband's attentions, his time, his means, that 
his business energies are crippled, when he is just setting 
out in life, when, more than at any other period, every 
faculty of mind and every power of body should be 
concentrated in the one great effort, of making a good 
beginning, of laying a sure foundation. If by any 
means she should exist on, to become a mother and 
die, she leaves to her child the inheritance of a feeble 
constitution, blasted at the root ! No wonder that it is 
said, "The grandchild of the city (especially) seldom 
lives to perpetuate its name, or race, or kindred." 

TO BUSINESS MEN. 

To be able to retire from business, on a competence, 
to the quiet and repose of country life, is the great aim 
of multitudes, yet, those who accomplish it, die soon 
after, not from age, not from the nature of a country 
life in itself, but from the effect of so sudden and great 
change in a man's habits and occupations, and this oc- 
curs irrespective of previous good health. 

If, then, a sudden transition from high bodily and 
mental activity, to a condition of life which compels 
nothing of this, but on the other hand compels inac- 
tivity, because the man has nothing to do, will uniformly 
make a well man sick, the same change cannot other- 
wise than aggravate the maladies of an invalid ; and 
yet it is the routine advice given to persons who have 
symptoms of Bronchitis, Consumption, Dyspepsia, or 



868 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

Throat- Ail, to go to the country, to go South, to go to 

the West Indies, to go to the Springs to do nothing ! 

except to wait and watch their symptoms, and the 
symptoms of others on the same melancholy errand, 
and whom they see evidently nearing the grave every 
day! 

Especially is this advice inefficacious and positively 
mischievous to clergymen, lawyers, and others of high 
mental activity. The mind cannot be compelled to 
repose, it cannot be chained, it will work, and if not 
employed on objects of pleasurable interest out of itself, 
it will fret about the bodily ailments, and work itself 
and the body too into a state of irritation, which nothing 
can effectually soothe, as long as it is permitted only to 
nurse its own ailments. 

Therefore, as a general rule, I find it of the highest 
importance to keep patients at the kind of business, in 
moderation, which allows them to feel most at home, 
preferring those which do not involve harassing care 
and over responsibility, but which allow pleasurable, 
remunerative, exertive exercise in the open air, for a large 
portion of the twenty-four hours of each -day. 

A CASE. 

S. C, aged thirty-six, applied to me March 20, 1853, 
with the following symptoms : 

1. Pains in side, under arms, and right shoulder point. 

2. Pain between shoulders, following right shoulder- 
blade. 

3. Debility, easily prostrated, no endurance. 

4. Hacking dry cough, and constant clearing of the 
throat. 

5. Daily tiredness and dryness in the organs of voice, 
especially as night comes on. 

6. A loose yellowish expectoration every few minutes 
during the day. 

7. Spitting of blood two years before, and several 
times since, at less and less intervals, and continuing 
some days at a time ; and now, any active exercise, 



WHY NOT ABANDON BUSINESS. 369 

such as running, would give a mouthful of clear red 
blood. 

8. He had lost one-tenth of his whole weight, giving 
him a cold, lean, skinny, debilitated look. 

This gentleman was the active partner of a very large 
and successful business house, and had made up his 
mind to abandon business and turn his whole attention 
to the recovery of his health. I told him that if he did 
so he would die, that his lungs were not diseased, and 
that continued attention to business, under certain re- 
strictions, with other appropriate means, would, with 
reasonable certainty, restore him to complete health. 
This opinion was given, although he had been an invalid 
for three years, and a father, brother and sister had died 
of consumption. The reasons of my opinion were — 

First. He had a healthful pulse. 

Second. The measurement of his lungs indicated that 
they were working fully and well. 

Third. The bleedings were the result of congestion 
from constitutional cause, and not from tubercles or 
decay. 

The bleedings, being of such a nature, would recur, 
as often as those causes were allowed to arise, yet, by 
proper attention to certain symptoms, indicating fulness 
of habit, these causes and bleedings could be indefi- 
nitely postponed. 

The result of the treatment in his case was, that he 
continued his business uninterruptedly, began to increase 
in strength and flesh in summer, and not having heard 
from him for a month or two, he writes December 20 : 

" It is sometime since I wrote you, and I am pleased 
to say that I had no occasion so to do. Since my last, 
I have felt quite well. For three days past I have had 
some nausea, a belching up of considerable wind, and a 
dull head-ache, not severe ; otherwise I am first rate, 
have not felt better for a long while, and begin to feel 
like a new man, and hope I am good for some years to 



16* 



370 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

The only draw-back mentioned was a recurrence of 
the spitting of blood, slight; but I do not consider it of 
special importance, because it is of the nature of that 
which women have under certain circumstances, attended 
with similar symptoms, to wit, those of an over- fulness 
of body, and can be indefinitely warded off without 
medicine, and with proper care, and may be made a 
means of adding years to his life, if a proper use be 
made of it. 

Of five hundred young girls, daughters of what is 
called the "better class," from fifteen to twenty, in 
New York, not fifty have lungs acting freely, and/wZfy, 
and well; and it is precisely for this reason that not ten 
in a hundred of these live to see forty years, and at a 
far earlier age begin to wear the wan, and wasted, and 
sickly look of a constitution prematurely blasted. 

A very large majority of those cases who look so 
very " delicate " that a strong puff of wind will well 
nigh tumble them over in the street, could be restored 
to comparative health without any medicine whatever, 
if means were taken to develope the lungs, until they 
measure the full healthful standard, to keep the feet al- 
ways warm, to regvlate the bowels to one regular daily 
action by means of suitable food, instead of risking the 
ruin of the stomach by the forcing process of Bitters, 
Tonics, and the long list of poisons usually purchased 
from ignorant or unprincipled salesmen. 

But when this ruin is well nigh effected, and the cher- 
ished flower still wilts away, the regular physician is 
called in only to announce that he can but smooth 
the passage to the grave ; and this is spoken of in the 
stereotyped obituary of some weak-headed admirer as 
a mysterious dispensation of an inscrutable Providence; 
when, in fact, there is no mystery about it, it is a legiti- 
mate cause and effect, and so palpable that any obser- 
vant physician could see it at a glance. 

A YOUNG LADY 

an only daughter of a mother, and she was a widow, 
was brought to my office May 2d, 1853. Pulse a hun- 



IMPORTANT TO PARENTS. 371 

dred and twenty, and only one half of her lungs in ope- 
ration. Her mother had taken her to Philadelphia and 
placed her in charge of a physician, but becoming 
alarmed, she brought her on to New York, and took 
medical advice, In a short time, however, the mother 
was informed that nothing could be done for her, as she 
certainly could not survive the summer, and it was now 
the middle of April ; that she had hasty consumption ; 
that the lungs were tuberculated, and that a general 
breaking down of these, and consequent cough, would 
soon follow and destroy her. 

On examination, I told the mother her lungs were 
not diseased, that hers was a case of innutrition from 
inaction of the biliary system, and that there was con- 
siderable hope of her restoration. The mammae were 
shrivelled up, the fingers met the bone of tho arm as 
soon as you clasped it, the flesh was flabby, the slightest 
thing would cause her to shed tears, appetite exceed- 
ingly capricious, can scarcely walk across the street and 
back without causing considerable fatigue and shortness 
of breath, sweating at night, exceedingly listless, the 
smallest crease in the bedding would keep her awake all 
night. 

By the middle of summer, this young lady had been 
steadily increasing in flesh for some weeks ; pulse re- 
duced more than one-fourth, night sweats had long dis- 
appeared, and the cough was almost entirely gone ; she 
could walk two hours without special fatigue, and rode 
on horseback three or four hours a day, and was steadily 
gaining in flesh, strength and spirits ; her neighbors re- 
marking how much she was improved in the healthml- 
ness of her appearance, and later accounts state her 
continued improvement. 

This is another case illustrating the importance of 
knowing certainly when consumption is not present. 

MANY AILMENTS. 

Sometimes persons complain of too much pain, too 
much cough, too many ailments, to allow it to be a case 



372 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

of consumption. A great variety of aches and pains, 
or an incessant cough, day and night, are prima faciae 
evidence that there is no consumptive disease, but that 
they are of " constitutional origin — that is, are the result 
of imperfect functional action ; the chylopoietic viscera, 
those great glands or workshops of the system, which 
withdraw the nutriment from the food and convert it 
into blood, are not in legitimate operation ; all the 
machinery is there, bnt it does not work well : to put 
these in working order belongs to the physician, and 
nature does the balance ; it is tinkering on, after the 
machinery moves, that is, giving medicine too long, 
which kills many after they are actually cured. 

The following letter from a lady, received w r hile 
writing this chapter, is confirmatory of the statement, 
that persons may be too complaining to have consump- 
tion, and that the greatest congregation of ills in one 
little body is of this functional origin : 

"Pain in my shoulder-blade and then in my left 
breast, when I am feverish. An error in diet increases 
my cough, tough phlegm has been annoying me in my 
throat for better than a year. When my stomach is 
very much disordered, my throat becomes very sore 
and ulcerated, it is ulcerated now. My voice is con- 
stantly husky, am constantly hemming and hawking to 
clear my throat, but it returns immediately again. 
Every thing I eat turns sour on my stomach, am ex- 
ceedingly costive, suffer with a dull head-ache ; weak, 
watery eyes; there is a good deal of tough phlegm 
in my head, w r hich I hawk down, and at times suffer 
with a severe soreness of the palate ; my nasal organs 
are perfectly closed at times, just as if I had a severe 
cold, which is not the case. 

I suffer with palpitation very much indeed, am ex- 
ceedingly nervous ; whenever I inhale a long breath, 
it causes my spine to creak in different places, but 
causes no pain, save weakness throughout its whole 
length. 

When I breathe, it always produces a peculiar sen- 



ACTIVITY INVITES HEALTH. 373 

sation as if though my stomach heaved up ana down. 
I have a sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach, with 
heaviness, as if a great weight were pressing on. My 
breathing is not so short, but is heavy and laborious. 
During the night I am feverish, and if I do not make 
use of a full diet I am almost sleepless. My breath 
is offensive, with a miserable taste and constant water- 
gathering in my mouth. Monthly suppression, high 
colored urine, with sediment. 

My cough is worse than it ever was, that is, I throw 
up more heavy green water than ever before — it is a 
husky cough. I very seldom take cold, and if I do, it 
does not increase my cough, but an error in diet always 
does the mischief." 

I cannot say what will be the result in this case, but 
J think that a single pill, once in a week or ten days, 
continued for some weeks, with a proper attention to 
exertive exercise daily in the open air, will restore her 
to good health, in a reasonable time. Her food must 
be so adapted to the wants of the system as to be medi- 
cine for her; then, when she begins to get well, the 
energies of the system will not have been exhausted by 
much medicine, and there will be something to build 
upon, as it is a clear case of Functional Disorder. 

The consciousness of having been instrumental in 
restoring clergymen to their labors, i:« perhaps every 
state almost in the Union, is a permanent source of sat- 
isfaction to me, for as far as I have done it, I am influ- 
encing society for good through them ; but it gives me 
a high degree of pleasure also to think, that I have ac- 
complished this, without to them, the almost ruinous 
expense of a trip to New York, or to the South, or 
across the Atlantic ; and without, too, the loss of time 
involved in their being silenced during the process of 
cure. I do not mean to say that this is generally done, 
nor when accomplished, is it the work of a few days ; 
but I do mean to say, that more clergymen have been 
restored by me to full labor in the continuance of their 
duties in moderation, than otherwise. Now and then. 



374 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

almost absolute silence is important for a while; but 
certainly not over one case in ten ; while, in those nine 
cases, absolute silence would have retarded, if not pre- 
vented, recovery. I have had men to come to me with 
slate and pencil, and in a short time could read aloud 
by the half hour, without discomfort by throw- 
ing the slate and pencil aside, and inviting out the 
strength of the organs of speech, as a man invites back 
the strength to all the other muscles of the body on 
recovering from a fever by safe and moderate exercise ; 
all the muscles of the body are under the same general 
laws. But behind this local disorder, is the root or 
the cause of the disease; and unless this is reached, 
persons who go away cured by local application, do not 
remain cured. And those who go away from me cured, 
will not remain so, any longer than they avoid these 
causes; but will remain cured as long as they do. The 
educated practitioner will understand me when [ say, 
that almost in every case that applies to me, I direct 
my attention to the chylopoietic viscera, and mainly by 
hepatic remedies. I do this as a matter of course. The 
principal agent of cure, medicinally, in the cases given 
in the last few pages, was a pill a week, amounting in 
the aggregate to less than Homoeopathic infinitessimals ; 
and yet in my own case, I would take even less than a 
single pill in a week, and it is the better way. But the 
masses will not choose that better way. Scarcely a 
man in a million, but he is nearly always cured. Men 
know but little : they prefer the mysterious and the 
expensive, to what is simple and costs nothing — but 
attention and perseverance. I find it a thousand times 
more difficult to get people to take air and exercise than 
to take physic. A delicate young lady will sooner horrify 
her stomach thrice a day with cod -liver oil, than, walk a 
mile over the hills of a clear frosty morning. 

Let not the reader understand me to disparage medi- 
cine, for properly used it is among the greatest of bless- 
ings, but it is to be used as an aid, and only now and 
then, and in small quantities, in all cases of throat and 
lung disease that ever came under my care; if there 



ENCOURAGEMENT FOR CLERGYMEN. 375 

are complications with other diseases, then it must be 
used more freely. 

As confirmation of what I have advanced, a gentle- 
man brought his son to me, with a throat affection. He 
had preached but a few months. Both were distressed 
beyond expression, at the prospect of that son, just 
married, being thrown on the shelf for life. He had 
not preached for a year. His throat was hoarse, dry, 
raw. And yet, within six months, he was settled, and 
in the full performance of all the Pastoral duties, and 
so he is to this day. 

A young gentleman wrote to me, that he had not 
preached for some time, from swollen tonsils, pain in the 
throat after 'preaching, hawking and clearing constantly, 
burning pain in the throat — and yet, within a month 
after receiving my first prescription, he writes me an 
overjoyed letter, stating that after three months' silence, 
he preached without any discomfort whatever 

ANOTHER CASE. 

A clergyman came to the city to consult me. I found 
him at his hotel, confined to his bed. His friends gen- 
erally believed that he was in a hopeless decline, such 
being the case, apparently. Age forty-five, pulse a 
hundred and ten, emaciation, debility, cough ; he had 
for some time ceased to preach, and I understood him 
to say, that he had no hope of ever being able to preach 
again. Being a man of great eminence, of wide influ- 
ence, and high family associations, abundant offers had 
been made of an European tour, of the warm springs 
of Arkansas, of a season's residence with Preisnitz, to 
be under his personal and daily care at his water-cure 
establishment at Graefenberg. I gave it as my opinion 
that his " was not a case of consumption as yet, no part 
of the lungs have to this time decayed away. Your 
disease is general mental and physical irritability, and 
consequent debility, and it is my opinion that you may 
have reasonable health for years to come. Your lungs 
are weak, nothing more." 

Among other things, I advised him to begin to preach 



376 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

at once, under suitable restrictions, and in a few days 
he returned home. 

Just three years afterwards, he volunteered a letter 
to me. I had not heard directly from him for two 
years. 

"January 11, 1853. 

If you have a grateful beneficiary on earth I am that 
man, and in Heaven, if not before, I will show my heart. 
But why so late in writing ? You know how to excuse 
me. I returned to my duties a year ago last October, 
and of course my hands have been full. What arrears 
to be brought up, health to be looked to, old habits to 
be re-established, &c. ; from that time, [ have labored 
nearly as much and as hard as ever, * * * following 
your general directions, * ^ * slowly improving all 
the while — cough none, expectorate as little as in my 
healthiest days, sleep well. Put me down as a poor 
broken down parson, whom you have patched up and 
set agoing ; and believe me when I say, that I can't tell 
you how wisely and kindly you managed my case, and 
how much is my indebtedness to your friendly care and 
professional wisdom." 

In addition to the ordinary duties of a pastorate, he 
had assumed those of a professor in a literary in- 
stitution. 

These cases are given to show that clergymen have 
been successfully treated at home, in the continuation of 
their labors, and it is not unreasonable to hope, that 
others similarly affected, may also be benefited, by the 
application of the same principles of treatment. At 
the same time, it should not be forgotten, that failures 
will occur, as often as there is left no stamina of consti- 
tution, to follow up with its restorative influences, the 
good impressions which judiciously administered reme- 
dial means have made upon the system ; since, in all 
diseases, there is a point from which there is no recovery, 
for human power is limited, and man is born to die. 



ADDITION TO THE EIGHTH EDITION. 



That the tenth edition of this book is called for, is 
evidence of its public appreciation. It has treated of 
three distinct diseases, Bronchitis, Throat- Ail, and Con- 
sumption. Since the eighth edition went to press, two 
systems of treatment have been urged, with all the ap- 
pliances of mind and money, as safe in their nature, 
reasonable in their philosophy, and successful in their 
results, to wit : 

First. The application of a solution of the nitrate of 
silver, by means of a probang, swab, or sponge, for 
Throat- Ail, or Chronic Laryngitis, or Clergyman's Sore 
Throat — the three expressions meaning precisely the 
same thing. 

Second. Medicated Inhalation, for the removal and 
cure of Bronchitis and Consumption. 

The history, in short, of the application of the nitrate 
of silver, is as follows : On the fifteenth of May, 1837, 
two eminent Frenchmen, M.M. Trousseau and Belloc, 
published in Paris, "A Prize Essay of the Royal 
Academy," being a 'practical treatise on laryngeal 
phthisis, chronic laryngitis, and diseases of the voice.' 
These gentlemen urged the claim, " of being the first 



378 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

to prescribe and employ topical medications in chronic 
diseases of the larynx. This we believe to be an im- 
portant step gained in the therapeutics of laryngeal 
phthisis, chronic laryngitis, and diseases of the voice — 
heretofore treated by indirect means, excepting some 
attempts at the use of gaseous applications to the air- 
passages. Our success proves, that if it be not the best, 
this plan is, at least, better than those heretofore em- 
ployed. These "topical medications" were mainly 
" equal parts of water and nitrate of silver." 

Two years later, on the second of September, 1839, 
Dr. J. A. Warder, of Cincinnati, Ohio, translated and 
published the above book ; but it seems to have made 
no impression on the medical mind of this country. 

One year later, to wit, October, 1840, Dr. Horace 
Green "brought before the New- York Medical and 
Surgical Society, the subject of the treatment of dis- 
ease of the larynx, by means of the direct application of 
therapeutical agents to the living membrane of that 
cavity," and reported "fifteen cases of laryngeal and 
bronchial disease, which had come under my (Dr. 
Green's) care during the two years preceding the above 
period" — that is, in 1838, Dr. Green was experiment- 
ing with nitrate of silver applications to the throat, 
being one year after Trousseau and Belloc published 
their book. Whether Dr. Green had seen this book, or 
read the " Prize Essay" before mentioned, is not known 
to the author. In October, 1 846, Dr. Green published 
"A treatise on diseases of the air-passages, comprising 
an inquiry into the history, pathology, cause, and treat- 
ment of those affections of the throat called bronchitis, 
chronic laryngitis, clergymen's sore throat, etc., etc." 
The dates above are : 



379 



Trousseau's publication, Paris, May, 1837. 

Green's experiments, began New- York, Sept., 1838. 
Warder's translation, Cincinnati, Sept., 1839. 

Green's report to Medical and 

Surgical Society, New- York, Sept., 1840. 

Green's book, New- York, Oct., 1846. 

When Dr. Green's theory reached Paris, Trousseau 
had not only abandoned his own practice of it, but op- 
posed Green's ; that opposition not having ceased in 
the early part of 1858 ; but, at the close of that year, 
a Frenchman having revived, or made claim of origin- 
ality as to topical application of the nitrate of silver*, 
[j^p* not only to the throat, voice-cords, and windpipe, 
but to the lungs themselves, Trousseau publicly denied 
the originality of his countryman, and assigned it to Dr. 
Green. In the fall of 1846, Dr. Green published his 
views ; in the spring of 1847, the author visited New- 
York, from his then residence, New-Orleans, for the 
express purpose of investigating the " Nitrate" prac- 
tice ; and with a willingness, a courtesy, a frankness, 
and a patience, which only a scholar, a gentleman, and 
a big heart could show, Dr. Green gave him every pos- 
sible facility in his own office, as free as the air, for 
satisfying himself as to the value of the new treatment. 
Willing to try any thing which promised such high 
curative agencies, the author adopted it in his practice, 
but gradually became convinced of its inefficacy, at 
least in his own hands ; and after a year or two, ceased 
to apply it altogether, because it seemed to have no 
permanent, radical good effect. Such being the case, the 
practice was abandoned ; and we do not recollect to 
have used the probang three times since 1850. The 



380 BRONCTITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

author has been confirmed in his opinion of the essen- 
tial inefficiency of nitrate of silver applications for 
what is ordinarily known as Chronic Laryngitis, or 
Clergyman's Sore Throat, by the experience of many 
practising physicians being declared to be similar to his 
own ; and from the equally significant fact of having 
persons apply to him who had had the application made 
by Dr. Green himself, for weeks and months together ; 
some stating that it did no good at all ; others, that it 
injured them ; others said that it did good for a while, 
but that the malady returned. 

Whatever the nitrate of silver may do in croup, in 
sore throat from a degrading disease, the author be- 
lieves that as to the ailment known as throat-ail, clergy- 
man's sore throat, chronic laryngitis, the nitrate of sil- 
ver is no more than a transient, superficial remedy, has 
no radical, permanent, good effect, and for the simple 
reason that pure throat-ail, known as clergyman's sore 
throat, is, in three cases out of four, a dyspeptic dis- 
ease, having its cause in the stomach, or in the use of 
smoking or chewing tobacco ; and the very first truth 
in medicine, as well as universal, is, that the cause of a 
disease must be removed, or the cure is impossible. 
Then again, we all know, that if the cause of a disease 
is removed, the system rises to health without any 
remedial application whatever, in a very great number 
of cases. If then, tobacco or dyspepsia cause throat- 
ail in the vast majority of cases, it must be apparent 
that the application of the nitrate of silver to the throat 
can not effect a cure, unless the dyspepsia is removed, 
or the tobacco discontinued prudently. 

The reason that a dyspeptic stomach causes a throat 
affection is simply, that the lining of the throat is a 



S81 



continuation of the lining of the stomach, and the dis- 
eased condition spreads by continuity, as does a fire ; 
besides, the acid and acrid fumes belched up from 
a dyspeptic stomach have an irritating, an inflamma- 
tory effect on the tender membranes of the throat. 
Many can testify that substances come up from the 
stomach sometimes which are so acrid as to " burn" 
or " blister" the tougher tongue. 

As to the efficacy of the nitrate of silver to the throat 
or lungs themselves, in actual consumption, we believe 
that it is only palliative, a.nd only deceives the patient 
into hopes which are never to be realized, while they, in 
effect, prevent him from using more active and efficient 
remedies, thus losing time, and eventually life itself. 
This subject is more fully treated in the last edition of 
the author's book on " Consumption." 

As to Medicated Inhalation for the cure of bronchitis 
and consumption, which, subsequent to the publication 
of the eighth edition of this book, attracted such gene- 
ral attention from the people of the whole country, as 
being so " reasonable," it is only necessary to say, that 
it died out as rapidly as it corruscated, having been 
taken up as a means of subsistence by ignorant or de- 
signing men, the medical profession not having thought 
it worthy of notice, because they knew it to be an ex- 
ploded theory of a past century, revived with alleged 
improvements, What improvements those were, as to 
substance, quality, or quantity, to use commercial lan- 
guage, " did not transpire ;" which circumstance was 
sufficient to foreshadow, what time verified, that the 
whole thing of Medicated Inhalation for diseases of the 
throat and lungs, was a deliberate imposition on public 
credulity. 



382 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

Meanwhile, the author thinks he has proofs, increas- 
ing every year, of the truth of the principles laid down 
in the preceding pages, and of the encouraging efficiency 
of the practice founded on those principles. As con- 
firmatory of this, it may be added, that as to the case 
mentioned on page 370, the patient was, six years later, 
in excellent health. 

At the end of seven years, C. W. F., page 364, re- 
mained in robust health. 

S. C, page 368, No. 1330, was travelling in Minne- 
sota six years later. In April following, the case, page 
366, H. F., reported, " Cough entirely gone, pain almost 
so, and no more cold feet ; regular, whole sleep ; appe- 
tite and bowels were all sound, good, and healthful." 

The person referred to on page 375, was laboring, 
with more or less activity, six years later. 

The clergyman named on page 23, was in excellent 
health, eight years later. 

The lady, page 26, 948, three years later reported 
herself in " perfect health." 

These cases have been taken at random, and may be 
considered as fair specimens of the permanency of the 
benefits derived from the principles of practice laid 
down in the preceding pages, giving good reason to sup- 
pose that they will be as safe, and efficient, and durable 
in their results, in time to come, as they have evidently 
been heretofore. 

43d St., New -York, First House West of Fifth Avenue. 



BRONCHITIS AND KIND.RED DISEASES. 383 

CATARRH 

Is a name given by the Greeks to ailments which throw o9 
fluids in unnatural quantities ; it means a Ci flowing from :" 
it is simply a "flux. ' ; These catarrhs are originated by a 
cold taken in some way ; and upou whatever part of the sys- 
tem the cold "falls,' ; it is called a " catarrh" of that part. 
Hence, " catarrh of the head" when the eyes water a great 
deal; " nasal V catarrh when the "nose runs;" "catarrh of 
the chest ' ; when a cold settles on the lungs and a large ex- 
pectoration follows. Some persons who h^ve " weak bow- 
els ,J always have diarrhea, thin, watery, light-colored pas- 
sage?, or catarrh of the bowels, when a cold is taken. 

The action of a catarrh is curative, and should be let 
alone, for it is nature's effort to carry off the disease; to 
wash it away, as it were. If nature were only left to her- 
self in these cases, an incredible amount of suffering would 
be prevented, especially if nothing were eaten until reliev- 
ed, but bread and water ; and if two or three hours in the 
forenoon and afternoon were spent in the open air, in bodi- 
ly activities sufficient to promote and keep up a very gentle 
perspiration. But when there is a cou^b, or a troublesome 
running at the nose, or a watering of the eyes, with a full- 
ness about the head and all over the body, indicating that a 
general cold has been taken, there is almost a mania for 
"taking something;'' or, if the person has some medical 
knowledge, and even a small amount of common-sense, 
leading him to wait on nature, while he endeavors to aid 
her as just indicated, every second person he meets, ex- 
claims, " Why don't you do something for it V and he is 
brave indeed who resists steadfastly to the end. 

A Jaly had a troublesome itching and running at the 
nose, and being advised to snuft up cold water freely, she 
did so and was "cured" in a day; but in forty-eight hours 
she nearly died of asthma ; for, although the "flowing" 



384 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

from the no?e was checked, the disease fell upon the lungs ; 
nature would have vent some where. 

In the diarrheas of children, summer complaint?, etc., 
wMch so often arise from colds settling on the bowels, par- 
egoric is given, and 6 soothing syrups." (in all cases made 
of molasses and laudanum, never made without sugar and 
opium.) The great effort of ignorance is to " stop the diar- 
rhea.'' This is done ; the parents are charmed, write out a 
certificate in great gratitude ; this is published in the morn- 
ing papers of the same week, as also in another column the 
death of the li cured" child, of u convulsions" or "water on 
the brain." 

The cough* of consumption, and the large amount of glai- 
ry or multi-colored 'matter ' ; discharged from the lungs in 
bronchitis, are the curative u no wings," catarrhs of nature, 
and to check them by cough-drops, lozenges, troches, syrups, 
snuffs, etc.. always makes death more certain, more speedy, 
and more dreadful. In all catarrhs, in all flowing?, keep 
the bowels free ; keep up a very general perspiration, and 
eat but very little for forty-eight hours, and if not better, 
send for a respectable physician. Annual sneezings and 
nose-runnings are of this nature, preventable by previous 
judicious depletions. 

It is of incalculable practical importance to correct an 
impression which has become almost universal by means of 
advertisements published in every class of newspapers, with 
only here and there a creditable exception, that Catarrh, 
which is only a professional name for a common cold 
"settling in the head," or more properly speaking, the 
passage leading from the nose to the throat, is the beginning 
of that form of disease which causes a disagreeable odor to 
emanate from the nose. Such is not the case ; at least the 
author has never met with such an one in the practice of a 
generation; nor has he ever seen one reported in the stand- 
ard medical works of any country; they are two maladies, as 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 335 

widely different as any two diseases of the same structure 
can well be. What passes from the nose in common ca- 
tarrh, has no perceptible odor, and does not disorganize 
the parts; does not eat them away; does not cause any 
deformity of the structures. When there is an odor 
connected with the discharge from the nose, it certainly is 
disagreeable enough, and becomes at length intolerable; 
a whole room is tainted as soon as the unfortunate victim 
enters it; and the consciousness of the fact on the part of 
the patient, sometimes leads to a determination to give up 
society altogether, if not to take refuge in the terrible crime 
of suicide ; but this disease is not " Catarrh," it is '' Ozoena," 
deriving its name from a Greek word meaning " I smell," 
and is inseparable from a syphilitic or scrofulous constitu- 
tion. But by disingenuously confounding the two ; calling 
them both by the same name, " Ozoena," and presenting 
" cures" of Catarrh, which will as readily get well of itself 
as cures of Ozoena, which never does get well of itself, 
multitudes are delude! into expensive courses of medicine 
or other treatment for the cure of common and harmless 
nasal Catarrh, under the apprehension that it may degen- 
erate into a horrible case of Ozoena. 

Common " Catarrh in the head" as it is usually called, 
but more correctly speaking, nasal Catarrh, which is noth- 
ing more than a slight inflammation of the mucous membrare, 
or inner lining of the nose, generally runs its course in a few 
days or a fortnight and disappears; the patient becoming 
as well as he ever was in his life ; as many readers can 
testify from their own personal experience ; sometimes the 
cold is renewed, and the cure may be protracted into weeks; 
but time and nature usually effect it better than by any 
human interference. Ozoena, on the other hand, gets better 
and worse ; sometimes the odor is less perceptible than at 
others; then again it becomes so impressive, that the patient, 
who a day or two before was elated with the prospeot of 



386 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

recovery. Is now in the depths of despair; thus time passes 
in alternations between hope and disappointment, until the 
whole system becomes so impregnated with the scrofulous 
virus, that the constitution yields by the transfer of the 
disease to the lungs, manifesting itself in the fatal form of 
unmistakable consumption; for which, in this connection, 
there is no remedy. 

As there is every reason to believe that scrofula has never 
been eradicated from the system, when once it has affected 
a lodgment, but may be held in check by any means which 
have the effect to keep up the general health to a high 
standard : so Ozoena, which is a scrofula of the nasal pas- 
sages, may be kept in check in the same way, while the 
odor may be rendered almost if not entirely imperceptible 
by extraordinary cleanliness of the parts.in conjunction with 
the local application of various chemical compounds, named 
in standard medical publications. The charlatan possesses 
himself of these, and while the amelioration of the promi- 
nent symptoms is filling the mind of the grateful and credu- 
lous patient with visions of ultimate and entire recovery, he 
is solicited for his certificate; which is forthwith heralded at 
the cost^of a dollar a line, to multitudes of families to work 
its own mischievous delusions ; for a little later these vouch- 
ers for false facts fiud that, iu a very short time, the 
malady returns, unless they can by tbeir own efforts, main- 
tain high general health and the most perfect local cleanli- 
ness; all of which they might have learned from the edu- 
cated physician in their own community. 

But nasal Catarrh may become chronic, as " Catarrh on 
the chest" may become chronic under the name of 'Bron- 
chitis; but both these diseases tend to protect the lungs 
from consumption, because they are different diseases, and 
two diseases seldom habitate in the same system at the same 
time ; in other words, if the " cold'' remains in the head, as 
in Catarrh; or if it remains in the branches of the windpipe 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 387 

as in "Bronchitis." it does not fall on the lungs and is not 
likely to fall on the lungs at all, if the constitution is 
not already scrofulous or does not become so ; nor will 
Bronchitis or common Catarrh of the nasal passages degen- 
erate into consumption of the lungs, even in scrofulous 
constitutions, if timely and persistent efforts are made to 
maintain a high standard of general health. But if persons 
laboring under Catarrh or Bronchitis expose themselves to 
causes of consumption which are of themselves able to gen- 
erate the disease, which are in short whatever causes pro- 
tracted ill health, they ought not to be surprised if they 
should fall into consumption, although it is a fact that in 
certain cases, the same causes will not be as effective in 
engendering consumption as if Catarrh or Bronchitis had 
not existed ; in other words, these causes of consumption 
must be first powerful enough to override the Catarrh or 
the Bronchitis before they can pass to the lungs, just as a 
mustard plaster must be powerful enough to compel a dis- 
eased action in a new and external part, before it can give 
relief to an internal pain; in this case, the disease is carried 
over, is transferred to the blistered spot, to the relief of the 
original ailment, giving it rest and time to recover,as in the 
cases in hand, the disease is carried over to the lungs from 
the nasal passages or the bronchial tubes and they get well 
while the lungs become more and more hopelessly consump- 
tive,and this is the reason why persons who have pure chronic 
Bronchitis, will cough with great violence every day, 
causing the uninformed to believe that they are in the last 
stages of consumption and yet a quarter of a century later 
they are living and coughing still, being in other respects 
in reasonable health. 

It is of vital importance to remember that nasal Catarrh 
is suppressed by opiates ; and if Ozoena is suppressed by 
styptics or astringent washes, it may very readily bo 
changed to consumption, or some other coownsative ail- 



388 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

merit, so that while the misguided patient certifies that he 
aras cured of Catarrh or Ozoena, he fails to notice that he 
has fallen into a more distressing, if not more fatal mala- 
dy. As an illustration, a young lady about to be married 
to an enterprising merchant, applied to the author to be 
relieved of a disagreeable odor emanating from the dis- 
charges from the nose ; she was advised of the nature of 
the case, that the only safe method of dealing with it was 
10 improve the general health and keep it up to a high 
standard for a long time, keeping the parts meanwhile in a 
perfectly cleanly condition. She greatly improved, the 
odor became almost imperceptible, and she was married. 
After having several children, she fell into constipated 
habits, the body was in a measure covered with various 
breakings out. but the trouble of the nasal discharges was 
no longer complained of. The author was written to from 
her distant home and counselled her to pay no attemion to 
the skin disease but to allow it to continue for a while and 
then seek to eradicate it from the system. Other counsels 
prevailed, other appliances were made to the skin to heal 
up the sores, which in time disappeared, but a morning 
cough began to be noticed, this steadily increased in fre- 
quency and violence while the general health and strength 
were steadily declining; becoming alarmed she visited 
Xew York, when it appearing that she had in conjunction 
with the other symptoms a slight chill every forenoon, with 
fever in the latter part of the day, the writer informed 
her husband that she was in the last stages of consumptive 
disease and that nothing remained to be done but to ease 
her into the friendly grave. This opinion was not concur- 
ed in. Two months later, she died. In this case, nature 
transferred the nasal disease, the Ozoena, to the skin, and if 
the latter malady had been eradicated by internal remedies, 
instead of being suppressed by external applications, this 
lady would have been in good health this day, the admired 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DIEEASJES. 389 

and the loved in a large circle of affectionate and devoted 
friends. 

HEART DISEASE. 

Some time ago, a country merchant aged about thirty, 
complained of great debility and shortness of breath on the 
slightest exercise ; any exertion of body or mind fatigued 
him. He could not even attend to the duties of a country 
store. He had but little appetite for food, and what he did 
eat disturbed him greatly. There was no indication what- 
ever of consumptive disease. The heart throbbed violently 
on any slight muscular exertion. The more immediate 
object of the consultation, was to determine his liability to 
military service. He was full in flesh and seemed to be in 
good condition. The prospect of doing this gentleman any 
material good was not sufficiently encouraging to induce 
the author to undertake the case, and it was dismissed 
with some very general directions, not involving the taking 
of any medicine. A year later this gentleman called again 
having so much improved as to induce him to believe that 
if special advice were given he could regain his health. 
In four months he was apparently so near being well,that it 
was considered he need not be under the care of a physi- 
cian any longer, as he was able to attend to his business and 
could walk half a day with less fatigue than formerly he 
could walk five minutes. By the first general directions 
given he lost 55 pounds of flesh. The latter course of treat- 
ment looked mainly to the building up of the general health. 
The key to the plan marked out for him, and which was so 
successful, was obtained by ferretting out his history from 
early youth to the day of his first consultation. Fiorn the 
age of five years to twenty-one he was subject to sore mouth 
several times a. year, worse in winter when a cough pre- 
vailed until May generally; this cough kept him frequently 
awake for hours, night after night. At the age of fourteen 
he began to feel badly about the throat, raising large quau- 



390 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

tities of yellow matter of mornings ; this was af'er having 
been three years at sea. He never was sea sick, but had 
several attacks of vomiting every year, after which he was 
pretty well. Boils broke out on various parts of the body. 
At eighteen years of age, it was an unusual occurrence to 
find a man on the vessel stronger than he was. From that 
age he began to fail in strength. He had catarrh in the 
head, a chronic sore throat ; could not perform a sailor's 
duties when aloft, the exertion causing shortness of breath. 
He then began teaching a district school, which he aptly 
termed " a leap from the frying pan into the fire, 77 for the 
old trouble of sore mouth, sore throat and a severe cough 
returned. After teaching five mouths, he became a sailor 
again, and coughed and raised more or less every day, be- 
came alarmed, thought he had consumption and " took 
quarts of patent medicines, the more I took, the worse I 
was. 77 A physician pronounced him to have Bronchitis. 
In this condition he remained two years, when another phy- 
sician said his left lung was diseased and advised exercise 
" which I could not take-' 7 Then another physician stated 
that his lungs were affected and treated him for three 
months. "I could not chop woodmor ascend a hill without 
extreme exertion. 77 When he exercised, his face burned like 
scarlet. In this condition he called on the author with the 
addition of soreness in the chest. His lungs were pronounc- 
ed not to be diseased. He had no trouble with his food 
and weighed one hundred and seventy-five pounds; this 
was in June 1863. When he was most comfortable and in 
the best health for him, he weighed one hundred and forty- 
five pounds. Three months preceeding this date he had a 
running sore to appear " on the leg near the body, 77 it heal- 
ed up in a few days and broke out in the other leg, then 
changed from one place to another ; "not knowing its nature, 
I healed it up. it left small hard, painful pimples, similar 
to those which formerly troubled the mouth. 77 The result of 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 39^ 

the treatment in this case has been detailed on page 387 ; 
the philosophy of it was simply this; he was scrofulous 
from childhood ; this scrofulous " humor" as it is common- 
ly called would vent itself; sometimes from one part of the 
body, then another ; sometimes from an external part, as 
in the running sores in the limbs ; at others from an inter- 
nal organ as the glands of the mouth ; the mucous membrane 
of the nose. Sometimes the diseased matters escaped 
through the liver j then again they were worked off by mus- 
cular exercise. When he was in the best health, he " had 
spells of vomiting several times a year. ;? But in the midst 
of this he became subject to oppression ; shortness of 
breath ; inability to exercise ; simply because in discharg- 
ing the duties of a sailor he had on some occasion been ex- 
posed to a cold sea wind while in a perspiring condition 
by which the pores of the skin were closed, and the " hu- 
mors' 7 which had been accustomed to escape through them 
were shut in, and " fell upon 7 ' the lungs, and then the 
heart began to labor. The philosophy of the general treat- 
ment first proposed was to feel if the heart itself was pri- 
marily diseased, or whe'her by its sympathy with other 
parts of the system, and if the latter, whatever tended to keep 
the skin soft and moist, and to put the internal glands, liver 
&c, in a condition to work off the wastes and ill humors of 
the system, tended to the relief of the heart, and if relief 
was thus obtained, it was clear theve was no fixed, no or- 
ganic heart disease and that he might be cured by making 
the liver ca-ry off the ''ill humors" and the wastes of the 
system ; which was done, His greater weight, than when 
in better health only showed that it was not a solid flesh ; 
he was merely puffed up, and this aided to clog the health- 
ful working of t'ie heart and lungs. As he returned to- 
wards health he gradually increased in weight, but the flesh 
was solid and he became proportionably stronger. And it 
is useful to remark here that this is precisely the difference 



392 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

between the apparent improvement of the health and in 
crease of flesh under the use of Beer, Ale and oth°r liquors 
and the subsantial approximation to health which a'tends 
a real appetite and vigorous digestion ; in the latter case 
the flesh is hard and gives a feeling of strength, in the for- 
mer, the flesh is puffy, watery, with a feeling of weakness 
and an inability to exercise. 

BILIOUS THROAT AIL. 

Some who complain of unnatural feelings about the 
thioat, who have symptons which lead casual observers to 
suppose they are in the last stages of consumption, need 
only to be relieved of an excess of bile and immediately be- 
gin to recover. P. J. A. came Oct. 6th, 1864, complaining 
that his throat prevented him from singing, in which he 
greatlv delighted ; he had a continual hacking and spitting, 
there was a feeling as if something were sticking in the 
throat. He complained of hoarseness, and had a most rave- 
nous appetite. His father, whom he resembled, died of a 
throat affection. He looked thin and weak and declining ; 
his friends had given him up to die of consumption, as hope- 
less. He was very susceptible to colds. He was assured that 
he had <l no approach towards consumptive disease.'' On 
the 15th of November following he wrote, 'That emetic kill- 
ed me — and cured me. I have been a new man ever since." 
On the 6th of January he called for the first time since his 
examination, just three months before, to express his grati- 
tude for the benefit done, declaring that he went to his man- 
ufactory every morning singing. He was of the Bilious 
temperament ; the usual remedies for clearing the liver of 
its excess of bile failing,it was determined to accomplish the 
objectas named above It will be remembered that in the pre- 
vious case, the health began to improve and reached its 
hi°'bes!: point under the influence of periodical vomiting- of 
bile, instigated by nature. The disadvantage of the emeti>5 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 393 

remedy is its straining, debilitating and otherwise deranging 
effect on the system. 

CHECKING PERSPIRATION. 

A lady writes January 16th, 1865: Eleven years ago 
next June, I went with others for a sail, we walked rapidly 
and when we entered the boat I was in a profuse perspira- 
tion, I soon commenced coughing, but retrained in the boat 
two hours. I have never seen a well day since. I am still 
a poor invalid. It is nearly three years since I put my foot 
on the ground, and more thau eight years since I have been 
able to walk half a mile. I have bronchitis in its worst form 
and in the book on "Bronchitis and Kindred diseases" I find 
my case explained much better than I could do it myself. 

EDWARD EVERETT, 

The finished scholar, the accomplished diplomatist, the 
orator, the statesman, the patriot, whose sudden and un- 
timely death a nation mourns to-day, wrote thus to his only 
surviving daughter : "Boston, Friday, January 13th, 1865, 
I am just recovering from a pretty severe attack of illness 
which has kept me in bed most of the time since Monday. 
On Monday morning I was in the court room testifying. I 
then went to Fanueil Hall, which was cold, and till mv turn 
came, I sat in a draft of air. When I had got through, 
though I spoke but half an hour, my hands and feet were 
ice, and my lungs on fire. In this condition I had to go and 
pass three hours in the court room. This finished me. I 
hardly left my bed next day (Tuesday). I have barely 
weathered an attack of Pneumonia, which is an old fashioned 
"lung fever. 7 ' I have turned the corner, and as soon as I 
can get a little appetite, and shake off my racking cough, I 
hope to do nicely." Within forty-eight hours of writing 
thn, his last letter, he was dead : he died from a cold,in less 
than a week after he had contracted it. If this cold had 
" settled 7 ' iu the head, it would have been "nasal catarrh/' 
and by causing a free flux or discharge of watery mucous 



394 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

he would have been well in a few days, with abstinence, 
rest and warmth j had it settled on the bowels, causing large 
free discharges, it would by the same means have passed off 
happily; but coming from a two hours' confinement in a 
warm court room, the brain too, being in a state of excite- 
ment, and then with brain and body at rest in a cold room, 
and a current of air blowing on his uncovered head, it is no 
wonder that his extremities were "ice/ 7 "his lungs "on fire." 
If this cold had settled on the branches of the wind-pipe, it 
would have been Bronchitis, but the causes were too aggra- 
vated and it went directly to the lungs, and subsequently 
changed to the brain, resulting in apoplexy. And it is of 
practical importance to remember that when persons have 
a severe cold and seem to be getting well, especially if 
they are old, or have feeble constitutions, it is often, not 
more than a seeming, for it is only that lull in the ravages 
of the malady caused by the passing of the ailment to a 
more vital part. Whenever a cold is taken, and a catarrh 
follows, a flowing from, a flux, from any part of the body, 
that catarah is curative, and life is endangered if it is inter- 
fered with so as to suppress it, to dry it up ; on the contrary, 
these catarrhs should be promoted by encouraging a catarrh, 
a flowing from, a discharge from the whole surface of tho 
body, in planer phrase, an old fashioned " sweat, 77 a per- 
spirat'on from the whole surface, such as our mothers of 
old used to induce, than which the world has not to this 
time devised a better remedy, by wrapping up in blankets> 
in a warm room, with warm bricks to the feet and a plenti- 
ful supply of herb tea, the quality of the il herb 77 not being 
important ; its being hot, the important characteristic. No 
catarrhs, whether of thin fluids or of thicker yellow matter, 
should ever be interfered with, except to promote them, un- 
less under the immediate supervision of an educated physi- 
cian of acknowledged skill, and even then, there should bo 
some apprehension of an unfavorable result. 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 395 

DYSPEPTIA AND BILIOUS THROAT AIL. 

The following letter, just received, is given without com- 
ment in full, as being both instructive and suggestive in all 
its bearings; in this class of diseases : " January 20, 1865. 
Dear Doctor, Your favor of the 12th inst. came duly to 
hand, and I now beg leave to report result of your prescrip- 
tion. At nine o'clock P. M. on Saturday last, I took half 
of the emetic, as ordered, and in twenty minutes after, the 
balance which sickened or nauseated me considerably, but 
did not have the desired effect until Sunday 2 A.M. be- 
ing about five hours, ere the emetic operated. It has al- 
ways been a matter of extreme difficulty for me to vomit, 
and I have taken emetics before, with no effect whatever, 
save great discomfort and nausea. The quantity of fluid 
ejected, was abnut one and one half pints, which surprised 
me having partaken of no fluid of any kind, that day. The 
color was yellowish brown, thick and slimy, of a bitter 
taste and a sour odor, — quite a quantity of bile seemed to 
have been ejected, together with much mucus. Feeling 
very weak, I remained at home all day, eating but two slices 
of toast, and abstaining from fluid — symptoms quite favora- 
ble — throat better, and no headache or water-brash. Next 
day, severe headache and sour eructations, — took the last 
pill that night, — had several passages that day, (Tuesday,) 
not much at a time, of course, — color bright yellow, odor 
peculiarly unpleasant, — had no passage on Monday. On 
Wednesday morning, found myself free from pain, — felt 
quite lively and cheerful, — better than I have been for 
many days with one exception, the weakness of my stomach> 
which rejects a larger portion of my meals, than it has ev- 
er done. I am greatly troubled with acidity in the stom- 
ach ) and find that the stomach is unable to attend properly 
to digestive functions. If that can be corrected, and my di- 
gestive apparatus put in complete working order, I do not 
doubt that I will get well, for. thanks to you, my throat 



396 BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 

does not trouble me one half as much as formerly, and I 
have now hopes of getting well. I doubt not that my case is 
a hard one to manage, and I regret to have given you so 
much trouble. I have a constitutionally weak stomach 
eveD, when a child, I was compelled to exercise great cau- 
tion in the selection of my food, as a fit of indigestion was 
easily brought on. As I grew up, confinement in the Count- 
ing Room, developed a handsome Dyspepsia ; but I thought 
that my persistent efforts to rid myself of that curse had 
proved effectual, and until I consulted you on my case, I 
flattered myself to that effect. In endeavoring to free my 
throat from its diseased state, I have made the mistake of 
using all kinds of medicaments, rendering me less and less 
susceptible to medicines. In truth, I could always take 
double dozes, — in fact was compelled to do so. Your pills 
were more powerful than any other medieine, (to produce 
the same effect) that I have taken. I have taken formerly 
15 grs. Blue Mass without the slightest effect, — using Cas- 
tor oil to carry it out of the system afcerwards. I had dis- 
continued taking medicines for over a month ere I consult- 
ed you, and have endeavored to follow your instructions 
implicitly Ihe result, so far, is this : my chief trouble, 
Laryngitis, is checked, and, I hope, in course of being suc- 
cessfully combated. That is one important step gained, — 
I am still hoarse, mucous accumulates, but is easily remov- 
ed without the painful hawking, but I am sorry to say, that 
my stomach seems terribly deranged, and, as you say, by 
excess of bile. Were that unpleasant feeling removed, I 
could say that for the last three days, I have been in excel- 
lent health. I hope you can aid me in the matter, as it is 
indeed most unpleasant; to have your food hardly down,, 
when up comes a portion, both bitter and sour, irritat- 
ing the throat, and accompanied by acrid gases. My 
wife had a liver complaint some years ago, bur was 
successfully treated at the time. She imagines, however, 



BRONCHITIS AND KINDRED DISEASES. 39*7 

that she will be troubled again, and wishes j~ou fco send her 
some pills like those you sent me. If you do so, please state 
the price, and I will forward amount at once. ; ' This letter 
was preceded by one saving, " I find in your work on 
Bronchitis and Kindred Diseases, page 255, a description of 
Throat Ail, which suits my case exactly. I do not believe 
I could have described it so well ; it is exact from first to 
last." This indicates that not only clergymen, but mer- 
chants and all sedentary persons, that is, all who live pretty 
much in the house,are liable to bilious and dyspeptic throat 
ail; that is, to a form of throat complaint, which depends 
on a wrong condition of the liver or stomach, or both, as 
was the case in this instance, The writer believes that 
four-tifths of all ca^es of Throat Ail, that form of it described 
above, where there is considerable hacking and hemming 
and clearing away of phlegm, or swallowing, or a barely 
perceptible cough, arise from the stomach or liver; and 
that therefore, ail local appliances of gargles, inhalations, 
nitrate of silver, and the butchery of cutting out the tonsils 
and clipping off the uvulge, the little pendant seen on look- 
ing down the throat, although they may form a plausible 
ground for heavy, and too often burdensome charges, are 
unscientific, useless and utterly powerless of cure, For a 
few days, or for a week or two, there is an apparent benefit; 
but it is not lasting ; it cannot be, because the origin of 
the ailment is not in the throat, but in distant parts of the 
body ; and it is to be hoped, that educated physicians every- 
where, will, in the light of these statements, be able to cure 
their fellow citizens at home, and thus prevent them from 
coming to the large cities, to be the victims of the charlatan 
and the impostor ; for whatever of success has followed the 
author, it has resulted from the use of those remedies ad- 
dressed to the liver and the stomach, which are regarded as 
appropriate, by orthodox medicine, at home and abroad. 



INDEX TO BRONCHITIS. 



Sir and Health 

Author's Opinion.. 
A.sthina, Perpetual. 
" Common 
" Case of . . 



PAGE 

78 

142, 2U1, 249, 345 



257 
3J5 



Bronchitis, what is it ? 

" Symptoms 

how acquired 

'• Philosophy of 

" Defined 

" History of 

Bad Habits of the Yonng. . . . 217, 

Breathing. Remarks on 

Brandy and Throat Disease 19, 180, 

Baths 'and Bathing 68, 229, 

Boarding-School Education. . .298, 
Boston Statistics of Consumption. 



Consumption, what is it?'. 
" Symptoms. 



how acquired 

Philosophy of 

s * History 

64 Definition 

H Communicability.. . 

« Curability 98, 

«» Threatened 

44 Real, Arrested 

" Spurious 

u Principles of Cure 

65, 220, 
" Early Indications . . 

Contents of Lungs 

" Heart 

Congestion Described 

Capillary Circulation 

Cell Development 

Chill and Fever 96, 111, 

Climate 

Cancer 269, 

Clerical Health 

Clerks 

Croup 

Children, Training of 

" Precocious 

" and Study 

** Health of 

Cough 90. 93, 201, 

" how produced 

Cod-livei Oil , 



36 

43 

44 

53 ! 
299 
270 
341 
295 
?,2d 
301 

6! 

io : 

35 I 

46 

54 

01 

98 
3-22 
203 
205 
211 

242 
273 

78 
79 
43 

41 , 

67 | 

158 
145 I 
278 
254 
299 
231 J 
333 
326 
328 I 
324 
223 | 
306 ! 
241 i 



PAGB 

Clergymen, Chapter to 243 

" how diseased 247 

Cases of, 14, 16, 20. 23, 33, 
51, 154, 182. 240 

Cities, Mortality of 335 

Country, " 336 

Dangerous Delays 36 

" Exposures 29 

Diarrhoea 97 

Danger of Cutting Tonsils 309 

Disease, Return o( Prevented. .17, 338 

Not by Medicine 318 

Debilitating Indulgences 218, 299 

Death, Manner of 86 

'' Edward Irving 5 

" Washington 227 

" Whitfield 258 

" Franklin 3i6 

" Combe 125 

" Maffitt 250 

Editors, Suggestions to 1?,8 

Exposures, Dangerous 29 

Expectoration 96 

Edwards' Jonathan, Oratory 253 

Fever and Ague, of 96, 318 

Frail and Feeble Persons. 126 

" Children, Treatment of 334 

Food, Tables of .' 234: 

" Amount Needed Daily. . 186, 289 

Features, Hereditary 278 

Female Boarding Schools.... 298, 329 
Franklin's Death 316 

Growth, Manner ol 69 

Heart, Contents of 79 

" Disease and Death 218 

How to Remain Cured 128 

Home and Its Advantages 152 

Health, a Talent 246 

" a Duty 207 

High Livers. .'. 267 

Inflammation Described 43 

Imprisonment, Long 77 

Lawyers, Cases of 19, 21, 162 

Lungs Described. 46 



4C0 



INDEX. 



PAGE 

Lungs, contents of. 78 

Last Words 88 

Lake-shore Situations 159 

Lite, Average Duration of 300 

Mistaken Patients 171, 182, 190 

Measures, Table of 200 

Medical Science, Value of . . . 298, 343 

Merchants, Cases of, 16, 24. 156, 178. 

207, 235, 240. 243 

Mortality of Cities 335 

Nitrate of Silver 237 

New York City Mortality 336 

Over Feeding 68 

Oxygen, Effects of Breathing 71 

Over-tasking the Brain 329 

Object of the Book,. .142, 302, 303, 339 

Parallels 65 

Principles of Cure 63, 65, 220, 225 

Phosphate of Lime 71 

Prairie Situations 159 

Pulse 270 

Patent Medicines 191, 302, 341 

Recipes 291 

Respiration 305 

Relapses, how occasioned 310 

Recapitulation 345 

Spirometry. ... 47, 81, 83. 166, 195, 272 

Smoking, Effects on Throat 18 

Shortness of Breath 306 

Smallpox 324 

Sea Shore 158 

Sea Voyages 159 

Spitting Blood 94 

Starvation, Suicide by 72 

Sick Headache 24 

Stay at Home to Die 152 

SorJie Caudtes poisonous 342 



PAGE 

Symptoms, Deceptive 177 

Suspicious 218 

" Enumerated 262 

" of Dyspepsia 321 

Throat- Ail, what is it? 5 

" Symptoms 7 

" how acquired 11 

Philosophy 40 

History , 48 

" Diseases 226 

" First Symptoms 255 

" Neglected, results of. . 256 

Tables of Measure 290 

Food 284 

" Mortality 335 

Tobacco, EfTects of 17 

Tubercles, how formed 46 

" Diseases of, Classified. 266 

" Not Necessarily Fatal 268 

Clusters o£ 274 

Tendencies of the Times 145 

Treatment of Unseen Cases...... 265 

Theological Students 243 

Tonsils, Danger of Cutting 309 

Unseen Cases Treated 265 

" Unwell" 312 

Voice Organs Described 42 

Vaccination 323 

Women, Cases of, 26. 171. 173. 203, 

212. 250. 311 312 

Few Healthy 325 

Washington at Morristown 187 

Death of 227 

Whitfield's Oratory 252 

Death ... 258 

Weakly Children 333 

Young, City Education of 298 

Young Ladies Education 329 






